Tips for Finding the right CBT diploma for you

 Looking for the CBT training course for you can be daunting when there are so many options out there, especially when you don't know a lot about them. In this blog, we aim to help you understand different aspect of CBT training courses that may help you learn what the best option for you is.

Cognitive behavioural therapy diploma course

A CBT diploma is a qualification that teaches you skills and techniques from CBT that you can use on clients. Often, these diplomas will be accredited by CBT professional bodies, namely BABCP. The level of CBT diploma you get is an important indicator of what you can actually do with the qualification, for example, level 5 allows you to use CBT in your work if you are a councillor already. If this applies to you, you may consider this as specialist training as you already have a level 4 qualification in counselling or psychotherapy. A level 7 diploma in CBT or a master’s diploma will allow you to be a CBT therapist – however, this requires you to already have obtained the previous levels of diploma in a related area.

Obtaining a CBT diploma will elevate your counselling and therapeutic services, as CBT is the leading method of therapy in many countries, including the UK. It is hugely backed by research, and is used as the primary technique in large healthcare services, such as the NHS, to treat many different mental health conditions and disorders. Due to this, there is a high demand for CBT therapists. It has been shown to improve client outcomes significantly and provides structured, thought-out sessions to give the client the highest quality of therapy.

 

CBT diploma accredited

As we briefly mentioned earlier, some CBT courses are accredited by professional bodies in the area that the qualification lies. It is really important that you pick a CBT course that is accredited by one of these. Some examples include: The CPCAB, NHS, and BABCP. This means that the body have had a look at the course details and have approved that it meets professional standards.

Specifically, the BABCP have different accreditation levels. Level 1 is a full accreditation whereby the students have met all of the minimum training standards, which is required to become a High Intensity therapist in the NHS for example. Level 2 is a partial accreditation whereby the students haven’t met all of the minimum training standards and may need to take on additional training to reach full accreditation.

This not only adds credibility to the course, but will be more desirable to companies you may want to work in with your qualification. For example, if you have an accredited level 5 diploma in CBT, you are able to prove that your training meets professional standards and will be more likely to progress positively with your career with it.

Online CBT diploma

One benefit of doing a CBT diploma now is that you have the opportunity to complete the majority of it online. There are guidelines behind the online teaching and learning of CBT diplomas however. Some courses will do all of the teaching and contact time live and not pre-recorded, especially for courses that are of a higher level such as level 7 diplomas.

All courses have to provide tutorials, supervision, and often reading lists for non-contact hours. Regular supervision is something that occurs very commonly when working in a mental health sector, whereby each colleague will get regular meetings with a supervisor to discuss any questions, issues, or concerns about work. You will get to have your first experience of this on the course.

Some courses may require a certain number of in-person clinical hours, which usually depends on the awarding body. These courses will have a set structure, and thoughouly cover a large range of topics. You are likely going to have the opportunity to analyse different case studies, where you will be able to apply your theory learning into a scenario.

We hope that this blog has helped you to learn about the logistics of a CBT diploma. We have gone through what they are, how they are accredited, and how they work when they are online. Take a look at our other blogs on CBT training if you want to know more, and check out our Level 5 diploma in CBT.