Admission Requirements:

1. Participation In a “Getting the Love You Want Couples Workshop” led by a Certified Couples Workshop Presenter® prior to admission into training. (Note: Participation should be with one’s committed, intimate partner. Single therapists may attend with a close friend, relative, or colleague of either gender). This must be done before training.
2. Possession of an advanced degree (masters or doctorate degree) in the mental health field (the common degrees are M.A. or M.S. in counseling or psychology, M.S.W. in social work, M.Div. in pastoral counseling, Ph.D. in clinical psychology, M.D. in psychiatry). (Not qualified? See our Professional Facilitator Program)
3. Membership in a recognized professional association (i.e. NASW for clinical social workers, AAMFT for marriage and family therapists, AAPC for pastoral counselors, APA for psychologists, AMA for psychiatrists). Being trained as an Imago Therapist is a couples therapy specialty training and not a training in the formation of becoming a psychotherapists. We want all Imago therapists to be active members of a well recognized professional organization that has standards of ethics and standards of supervision. This organization will be the “gate keeper” for your membership in IRI and/or being a Certified Imago Therapist®. All Imago Therapists must keep their memberships in their professional organization current at all times.

We recognize that many in the helping professions get training in massage therapy, rebirthing, gestalt therapy, psychodrama, alcohol and chemical addiction therapy, psychiatric nursing, and many have certifications in these
therapies. These are all very useful, but we see them as specialties, just as Imago relationship therapy is a specialty, and they do not qualify one to enter into our training program on the clinical track. Our program is not designed to educate a person to become a fully qualified psychotherapist in the highest meaning of that term. We find it necessary to have already obtained all qualifications, certificates, and licenses with hundreds of hours of supervised internships to have reached the level of being qualified to join a national professional psychotherapy organization on our list before they can become a Certified Imago Therapist®. We allow a person who is in the latter stages of psychotherapy training where they can see clients under supervision to enter the program, but they cannot become a Certified Imago Therapist® until they have been accepted in a nationally recognized professional organization on our list and can legitimately call themselves a psychotherapist.

We also recognize that applicants from countries outside the United States have different standards and requirements for becoming a recognized psychotherapist. We are developing standards in each country that fit the local culture. Educational degrees may be different, but we require that you belong to a professional organization that is on our list that requires acceptable minimal professional educational, supervision, and ethical standards. Please contact Kobus van der Merwe if you have any questions about admission requirements.

• Two letters of recommendation from colleagues who know your work well.
• License to practice psychotherapy if required by your state.
• 300 hours of post graduate supervision (150 hours may be group supervision. 150 hours must be one-on-one supervision). Supervision means time spent with a supervisor, not client hours.
• Proof of malpractice insurance.
• Copy of graduate degree.
• A photo of yourself.

Each applicant will be considered on his or her own merits. If you do not have all of the above credentials, please attach a cover letter to your applications, which addresses the exception.
Admission to any program does not guarantee certification.