Certification & Examinations Handbook
The ITAA and EATA Certification and Examination handbooks are the same with minor exceptions; check for any changes or updates with your exam coordinator or any member of PSC/IBOC if you need clarification.
Changes are notified to trainers through the PSC Newsletters. Remember that there may be further national requirements for accreditation as a counselor or psychotherapist – please check with your national association.
The most recent PSC Newsletter – MAY 2023 – highlighting the format for the written CTA exam (section 8), and the TA 101 teach and the scoring for the supervision exam for TSTA (section 11) can be found HERE.
COVID-19 Statement:
TA-101, ongoing TA training and supervision delivered online counts as regular TA training, as long as it is provided by 101 instructors and (P)TSTA’s of ITAA. This is to clarify IBOC’s position during this time of the pandemic. IBOC is also in the process of a more substantial review of online training and examination as a long-term option.
Translations of the EATA Handbook in French, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian and Russian can be found on the EATA website and a Japanese translation of the ITAA Handbook on the TAAJ website.
Handbook by Sections
Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to access the following documents:
section 0.pdf Index | Definition of the abbreviations and Index of the sections |
section 1.pdf Introduction | An introduction to TA, an introduction to the Professional Standards Division of ITAA, acknowledgments, updating policy, abbreviations, explanation of terms and abbreviations, the four fields, contact details. |
section 2.pdf Status of Training | The status of training, mutual recognitions, the training process, trainers’ responsibilities, national and regional requirements for psychotherapy and/or counseling. |
section 3.pdf Ethics | ITAA statement of ethics, ethics principles, summary of procedures for ethics charges against ITAA members. |
section 4.pdf TA101 | The official TA 101 course: purpose, requirements and certification, the TA 101 course outline, the TA 101 written examination, endorsement of CTAs as TA 101 instructors, winners of the Eric Berne Memorial Award. Revised February 2024 |
section 5.pdf The Four Fields | Introduction to the four fields of specialization – brief descriptions, the core competencies. |
section 6.pdf Training Contracts | Introduction, filing of ITAA contracts and payment of fees, selecting a field of specialization, extending a contract, cancelling a contract, changing a supervisor, changing field of specialization, exceptions for supervisors of CTA and TSTA training contracts, expansions for supervisors of CTA and TSTA training contracts. Revised October 2022 |
section 7.pdf Overview of CTA Examination | Introduction, eligibility for the CTA exam, the examination timetable. Revised November 2022 |
section 8.pdf CTA Written Examination | Introduction and overview, the counseling written examination, the educational and organizational written examinations, the psychotherapy written examination, marking the written examination, appeals procedures for the written examination. Revised October 2022 |
section 9.pdf CTA Oral Examination | Introduction, procedure, instructions for candidates, instructions for examiners, the function of the chairperson, the function of the process facilitator, the function of the observer, guidelines for oral examination with translation, exceptional circumstances, appeal procedures. Revised February 2024 |
section 9 addendum.pdf CTA oral exam addendum | Addendum to Section 9 Procedures for on-line CTA exams. Revised July 2022 |
section 10.pdf The Training Endorsement Workshop (TEW) | Nature and purposes of the Training Endorsement Workshop, participants, registration for the TEW, TSTA, supervision and letters of recommendation, materials for the TEW, organization of a TEW, staffing of a TEW, the TEW program, feedback, requirements and recommendation from TEW staff, the TSTA contract, content outline for the TEW, the Training Proposal Outline (TPO). Revised November 2022 |
section 11.pdf TSTA Examination | Introduction, eligibility for examination as a TTA, STA or TSTA, supervision, PTSTA records of training and supervising hours, applying for the examination, withdrawal from the examination, the examination, the scoring procedure, guidelines for examiners in the TSTA examination, guidelines for supervisees in the supervision section of the TSTA exam, partial completion of the exam. Revised February 2024 |
section 11 addendum.pdf TSTA Examination addendum | Addendum to Section 11 Procedures for on-line TSTA exams. Revised September 2022 |
section 12.pdf Forms & Official Documents | All forms and documents as listed in above section: Complete List of IBOC Examinations Forms. |
Email all completed forms & certification or examination inquiries to: iboc@itaaworld.org