For Therapists Pursuing the Path
ISST Certification Pathways
Standard and Advanced. Individual and Couples. The full pathway in one place.
ISST certification is more confusing than it needs to be. The official documents are long, the requirements differ by track, and the language uses different words in different places. The pages below collect everything in one view so you can see what your path looks like before you commit.
There are two main certification tracks: Individual schema therapy and Schema Therapy for Couples. Each track has a Standard level and an Advanced level. Standard certifies you to practice the model. Advanced certifies you to treat all patient presentations and, with additional years, to apply as a Trainer-Supervisor. STTC trains and supervises clinicians on both tracks.
Individual Schema Therapy (ST-I)
Requirements for those who began training on or after September 1, 2021. Source: ISST 2021 Certification Requirements v2.0.
| Requirement | Standard ST-I | Advanced ST-I |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility | Master’s degree (or medical degree with psychiatric residency) in a licensable psychotherapy field, plus active licensure or certification to practice independently. | |
| Didactic training hours | Minimum hours per ISST curriculum, delivered by an approved program with Certified Trainer-Supervisors. | |
| Supervised role-playing in dyads | Minimum hours per ISST curriculum, included in approved training. | |
| Supervision hours | 20 hours minimum | 40 hours minimum |
| Recorded sessions reviewed by supervisor | 2 hours / 2 sessions | 4 hours / 4 sessions |
| Independent rater recordings | 1 session, score 4.0 or higher on STCRS | 2 sessions, score 4.5 or higher on STCRS, on different patients, by different raters |
| Required techniques on rated session(s) | Imagery rescripting for change OR mode dialogues in chairs for change (item 11 score 4.0+) | One recording: imagery rescripting for change. Other: mode dialogues in chairs for change. Both must demonstrate competence with overcompensating, avoidant, or surrender modes across the two sessions. |
| Time limit to complete | 3 years from end of workshop training | 5 years total (3 to Standard, 2 more to Advanced) |
| Minimum supervision duration | At least 1 year from start of workshop training. | |
Group supervision converts to individual hours on a sliding scale: a 60-minute group with 6 trainees gives each member 20 minutes of credit. Individual supervision is recommended but not mandatory. Full conversion table available from ISST.
Schema Therapy for Couples (ST-C)
Schema Therapy for Couples was developed by a committee of senior schema therapists including Eckhard Roediger, Chiara Simeone-DiFrancesco, Travis Atkinson, Poul Perris, Larry Riso, Bruce Stevens, and Mary Giuffra. The 2017 update was authored by Travis Atkinson, Eckhard Roediger, Poul Perris, Mary Giuffra, and Larry Riso. STTC is one of two ISST-approved couples training programs in the United States.
| Requirement | Standard ST-C | Advanced ST-C |
|---|---|---|
| Didactic coursework hours | 18 hours | 18 hours |
| Dyadic role-play training hours | 12 hours | 12 hours |
| Case discussion in supervision / educational consultation | 10 hours | 20 hours |
| Session recording competency rating | 1 session, minimum 4.0 rating | 2 sessions, minimum 4.5 rating each |
A note on language: ISST Schema Couples certification uses the term “Educational Consultant / Trainer” in place of “Supervisor.” This respects cross-jurisdictional licensing restrictions on supervision and reflects that the Consultant is not clinically responsible for the case. The Consultant advises and educates on the model.
Practical Notes
Two routes to meet training requirements. Either complete an ISST-approved program in full, or assemble your own training by combining workshops from multiple approved programs. The independent route requires you to track your own coverage of the curriculum and collect Certificates of Attendance from each module.
Recordings. Sessions submitted for rating must be a single, continuous, complete session of 45 to 60 minutes, accompanied by a Case Conceptualization. Recordings can only be submitted to one independent rater. If a recording does not meet the score, you cannot resubmit to a different rater. The Case Conceptualization can be revised and resubmitted.
Independent raters cannot be your training program director, your supervisor, or anyone with whom you have a personal or professional relationship.
Maintaining certification requires ongoing ISST membership, continued accreditation in your country’s psychotherapy regulatory body, and annual Continuing Professional Development hours.
If you miss the time limit (3 years for Standard, 2 additional for Advanced), you can extend by completing 6 hours of CPD per year exceeded, or 6 supervision hours, or by presenting cases at an ISST Special Interest Group.
Training at STTC
STTC offers ISST-approved training programs in Individual Schema Therapy and Schema Therapy for Couples, both at Standard and Advanced levels. Travis Atkinson is an ISST-Certified Trainer-Supervisor for both individual and couples schema therapy. Educational consultation toward couples certification is available year-round; individual supervision toward ST-I certification is available on a case-by-case basis.
Requirements summarized from official ISST documents (page-19653 and Schema Couples Therapy Certification page on schematherapysociety.org). For the official versions of all requirements and the most current updates, refer directly to the International Society of Schema Therapy.
About Travis Atkinson
Travis Atkinson is a pioneer in the field of schema therapy. He trained directly with Jeffrey Young at the Cognitive Therapy Center of New York beginning in the mid-1990s and worked alongside Dr. Young for more than a decade as the model was being built. With Wendy Behary, he is among the small group of clinicians who helped develop schema therapy into what it is today.
He is a co-developer of schema therapy for couples, the clinician who brought the EFT and Gottman expertise that shaped the model’s treatment of emotional process between partners. In couples work the field is narrower still: most schema therapy trainers have a fraction of his clinical hours in the model, and in the couples space, there is no comparable depth.
He has been practicing schema therapy since 1994. In 2020, the International Society of Schema Therapy named him an Honorary Lifetime Member, a distinction held by only a small number of clinicians worldwide.