UKA4TA
UK Association for
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
Introduction
In line with UKATA’s commitment to promoting high quality psychotherapy training in Transactional Analysis, this policy sets out the underlying training rationale for psychotherapy trainees’ personal therapy (TPT) and what that means in practice.
Training rationale.
The three interrelated training aims of TPT are:
To enable trainees to address their own script issues that could interfere with the effectiveness of their work with clients (the counter-transferential purpose).
To enable the grounding of theory and therapeutic methods via direct experience of the type of therapy in which trainees are being trained (the didactic/learning purpose).
To enhance trainees’ empathic awareness of what it’s like to be a client in the type of therapy in which trainees are being trained (the empathic purpose).
Practical implications
Trainees (i.e. all students who have not yet successfully completed their UKATA Diploma orCTA) are required to demonstrate a committed and continuous engagement with the process of their own personal therapy, within a well-established therapeutic relationship, and one that is congruent with the type, and frequency of that in which they are being trained.
Specifically this should entail regular, face to face, weekly, individual and/or small group (maximum 8 members) therapy. This enables an ongoing integration of personal therapy with the trainee’s training, practice and supervision throughout training.
Trainee’s personal therapy should be with a CTA (P) psychotherapist, unless there are pragmatic reasons that make this difficult, e.g. geographical availability, in which case it should be with a UKCP Registered humanistic or psychodynamic psychotherapist.
In terms of numbers of hours of personal therapy, the minimum requirement should be 160 over the period of formal academic training with a Registered Training Establishment. All hours of regular weekly small group therapy can count towards the minimum requirement, and the balance of individual/small group therapy should be congruent with the balance of individual/small group practice hours. Any additional therapy over and above this minimum can take any form.
Beyond the period of formal training, trainees wishing to meet EATA requirements for taking the CTA examination need to be in therapy throughout their training. Students wishing to obtain UKCP registration need to be in personal therapy for a minimum of 40 hours per year over at least 4 years.
Dual relationships that involve concurrently providing therapy, and training or supervision, should be avoided.
There may be other circumstances in which the trainee, in consultation with their supervisor or trainer, would like to vary these requirements. Any variations should be consistent with the training rationale and paragraph 1 above and agreed with TASC.