Where to train as a therapist? 6 recommendations to know how to choose

Choosing between different training options can be complicated. What should you look for?

The learning path necessary to become a psychotherapist is not always clear. Depending on the place of residence of each person, the regulations governing the practice of psychology in each country, and the motivations and needs that move us, we must find a way to enter this professional field by going to the training centers that most closely match what we want to do.

It is not only a matter of studying hard and well; it is also necessary to find a training institution that meets the requirements of what we need to become the psychologists we want to become. So... where to train as a therapist?

In this article we will see several tips on how to choose the centers in which to train to become psychotherapists, and the way in which we can estimate their quality.

Where to train as a therapist: how to choose where to study.

Training to practice in psychotherapy is not easy, especially considering the wide variety of knowledge and skills needed to work in this field of health. The type of training required to intervene psychologically with patients must in patients must cover broad facets of human behavior and the mental processes involved in them, something that can hardly be achieved without the guidance and supervision of experts in the field.

On the other hand, it is precisely the fact that there is a Wide range of knowledge to be learned that makes many students feel lost when it comes to progressing in their educational career. At the end of the day, it is difficult to find a line to follow among so many subject areas in order to sequentially to sequentially internalize subjects that help us understand how psychological therapy works, building new knowledge on what we have already made our own.

Fortunately, and although in order to become a psychotherapist it is necessary to adapt the line of study to the unique interests that define us as individuals, in general terms it is possible to find a series of criteria that can guide us when making decisions about where to study to become a psychologist. These fundamental criteria are as follows.

1. Check the clarity of the syllabus offered.

If a training center does not offer a summary of the contents that will be covered during its courses, this should be a first warning sign. Transparency in terms of the type of subjects to be taught in the classes is something fundamental. is something fundamental, and in what we will have to rely on to know if this option adapts to our needs.

2. Make sure they offer quality internships

It is essential not to limit yourself to learning theory. In something as changeable and flexible as human behavior, you need much more than knowledge obtained from books: you have to get used to carrying out practical cases that test your skills in real time, in contexts as realistic as possible and as similar as possible to the professional day-to-day life that the training context allows.

There are centers that offer internships by referring students to other organizations where students can practice psychological intervention cases on patients. However, even better in this respect are centers that allow internships without the need to go to another center, i.e., with patients from the same place where they are constantly learning. In this way, both theory and practice are better integrated, and a better correspondence between theory and practice is possible.In this way, both theory and practice are better integrated and there is a better correspondence between what is explained and discussed in the classroom and what is seen in real patient cases.

An example of this is the Master's Degree in Integrative Psychotherapy at the Mensalus Institute (Barcelona), which offers both practice with patients from the center itself and classes and observation in which psychotherapists attend these people who come to the consultation, the students being located behind a glass that hides them (although the patient knows that he or she is being observed).

In these cases, several types of learning are combined that have to do with problem solving in real timeOne by placing the students at the center of the action, and the other by leaving them a space to ask questions about what they are seeing.

3. Pay attention to the paradigms you start from

The training centers you attend must start from a clearly scientific conception of what psychology is. This means that it is necessary to that base their teachings on well-constructed research with a claim to create knowledge with the aim of creating knowledge applicable to many contexts and of proving falsifiable facts that can be easily tested by other research teams.

In this sense, it is important that the bulk of the contents to be learned are based on the cognitive-behavioral paradigm, which has the most evidence of effectiveness.

4. Review your options of attention to the student

It is very common for incidents, doubts or small problems related to the availability to attend a class, with the grading system or with the need to contact teachers to answer important questions to appear throughout a course.

For this reason, it is essential to be informed about the type of student orientation offered by the centers, especially through the Internet..

5. Check their scheduling compatibility options

Especially in postgraduate studies, it is good to consider the possibility of pursuing these studies without overlapping schedules with other things, in a way that fits with the other responsibilitiesFor example, if you have to go to class at times that are too far apart, you may need to attend class at times that are too far apart. For example, if in order to attend class you have to go to class at times that are far apart, spending almost the whole day in three hours of class, this will possibly wear us out and keep us away from the resolution of other needs.

6. Pay attention to the type of therapy you are trained in.

Don't get carried away by what others are doing: if you are interested in a specific type of therapeutic intervention, don't be afraid to choose a center where you will be trained in a specific type of therapy. a center where more emphasis is placed on that type of training.. But be aware of the risks of learning only about one type of therapy, taking into account the context in which you plan to work and the amount of competition that will be involved. The ideal is not to lose a general perspective of psychotherapy applied to a certain variety of health disorders, even if the focus is placed on two or three specific problems.