Peak States Therapist Certification
Professional Therapist Training

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Certification occurs usually some months after the therapist graduates from the Trauma Therapy training, giving time to build proficiency on themselves. The usual time is about 2-6 months from the end of the therapist training.

Benefits for certifying wtih the Institute
The biggest reason to certify is to get ongoing support and access to new treatments developed by the Institute's research team. You also have your skills, contacts, and information listed on our Peak States Therapist website (so clients can find and contact you). In particular, certified therapists also get other benefits: they can login to restricted portions of the Institute's forum to keep up to date with new discoveries and connect to their peers; login to get new technique and process documents; use our trademarked material (under license) on their websites and advertising; view audio and video material that is designed for therapists who have this level of understanding and mastery of trauma psychobiology; and join a fellowship of therapists who are bringing this new way of treating clients to the world.

One of the conditions of certifying with the Institute is to agree to 'pay for results' billing with their clients. (We practice this billing in all our own work - the phrase 'pay for results certified treatments' is prominently displayed at the top of our therapist and clinic websites). How to do this is both taught in the therapist training courses, and is fully explained in our Subcellular Psychobiology Diagnosis Handbook. For some therapists, this performance billing is a breath of fresh air, and they eagerly embrace this in their practice. And appreciate the camaraderie of other therapists who feel the same way. They consider this a huge benefit of certification. For others, this seems like too big change in how they do business, and so we regretfully disqualify them from getting certified by the Institute.

One of the most unusual benefits, but for most certified therapists the most enticing one, is to be part of phase 2 clinical trials for new treatments. This can range from testing new peak states processes, to specific disease and disorders (often ones that nearly everyone has without realizing it). For many therapists, this benefit alone is why they stay certified by the Institute.

Certified Therapists have access to new material
As we said above, certified therapists get access and support training for new discoveries and processes from the Institute. We also have a website designed specifically for the use of certified therapists at www.peakstatestherapy.com, with individual therapist webpages. Client brochures, liability agreements, and other documentation useful for therapists can be found there after logging in.

Starting the certification process
If you are a graduate of PeakStates training and you intend to become certified, please let us know by contacting the support coordinator in your language. A list of these volunteers is on the graduate support webpage.

There is no guarantee that you will become certified after taking the prerequisite classes - we test for competence in using the techniques that you've learned. There are also support Zoom and peer practice sessions available. With in-class practice sessions on volunteer clients, most students feel comfortable with the techniques by the end of their training. For many therapists, the biggest hurdle for certification is agreeing to 'charge for results' on all your work, whether it is using a Peak States process or not. (For more on this, see the webpage about 'pay for results'.)


    Detailed Steps for Certification (rev 1.4a, 2007 PDF)
    This PDF document gives the reasons for our requirements for certification, and describes the curriculum requirements, benefits and obligations of basic certification, and student's scope of practice as text and as summary tables.

Prerequisites:
Completed Trauma Therapy training.

Summary of Requirements for PeakStates Certification
  • Crisis intervention training (with suicide intervention) or Suicide Intervention training.
  • Recognizing mental illness training (DSM-4, DSM-5, or ICD-10).
  • Training in recognizing and treating spiritual emergencies (coursework only).
  • Valid legal licensing in the area that you practice.
  • Liability insurance for your practice.
  • Demonstration of skill for an Institute certification person.
  • Follow ethical behavior and safety guidelines as set by the Institute.
  • A written examination.
  • Signed license agreement.
We accept appropriate equivalent training to meet these requirements (with approval by the certifier).

Due to the differences in therapist training programs worldwide, we require therapists certified by the Institute have taken training in three specific areas during the certification period (unless they already have had this training). The most important is in suicidal signs and treatments. The second is recognizing mental illness in their clients. And the third is in spiritual emergencies, covering symptoms and treatment. This later requirement is simply because many people with this issue tend to find Institute certified therapists due to the focus we have on peak states of consciousness, and/or due to the fact that therapists trained by us are both fast and can help in conditions that other therapists cannot.

Of course, as with any field of therapy, specialized conventional training is also required for working with specific client groups: sexual abuse, domestic violence, addictions, mental illness, etc. These sorts of trainings are up to the therapist, although we do encourage therapists to take them to round out their scope of practice.

There is also a legal agreement between the Institute and the therapist if they become certified. This is for liability and safety issues. For a copy of the agreement, click here: Provisional Certification License Contract (rev 3.5) Dec 2021 PDF. The full license agreement is similar: Certification License Contract rev 1.3 May 2024 PDF.

Practicing the skills
After the coursework, practical experience working with clients using power therapies and peak state techniques is needed for competence. A therapist will be mentored during this period to help them as desired. Depending on the therapist's previous experience, this phase of becoming comfortable with the techniques and treatments can be as short as a month to up to 6 months. This is not a requirement for contact hours - instead, this is a chance for therapists to become comfortable using the techniques with clients. At the end of this period, whose duration is decided by the student, they are given an exam and have to show competence with an actual client.

Certification deadlines
The Institute trains therapists in subcellular and developmental psychobiology techniques in order for them to become certified by the Institute, so they can have access to licensed material and help us in our objective of redefining the field of psychology. Unfortunately, after completing coursework we find that many students delay doing the certification process until they no longer feel capable of finishing and going on to work with clients. New therapists are assigned mentors to help the therapist move through this stage. But there is a limit to how much time we can spend encouraging and assisting a therapist. A reasonable deadline is about 6 months after graduation from a training.

You can find a list of the student coordinators on this webpage who will be happy help therapists through this certification process.

Certification exam cost
Cost is 240€ for trauma therapy certification (approximately 1 day oral exam plus review of practical application) and 80€ for peak states therapy certification (oral exam only).

Yearly registration fee
There is an annual fee of approximately US$150 to maintain certification with the Institute for the Study of Peak States (if you are not in a volunteer ISPS role). We also require that the therapist remain updated on the latest material from the Institute (since the field is changing so rapidly). Thus, we re-certify at a yearly interval to be sure our conditions for certification continue to be met. Again, this entitles you to become listed on the website, have licensed access to Gaia music (and other material as it becomes available), and get support for your clients from Institute clinic staff who are trained to deal with more complex clients. We also have a 'charge for results' fee structure for clients as standard practice.

Sources for Insurance for ISPS certified therapists
The international professional association for alternative therapies is called the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT). Both Whole-Hearted Healing (WHH) and Peak States Therapy are approved modalities. They offer insurance through an affiliated insurance company in each country.
License updates
May 24, 2012: Removed some of the client usage restrictions on four techniques taught in the trainings.
The four techniques are 1) The Courteau Projection Technique™, Crosby Vortex Technique™, Body Association Technique™, and the Tribal Block Technique™. The Whole-Hearted Healing™ Workbook by Paula Courteau covering three of these techniques and is available via Amazon.


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Revision History
May 19, 2025: Edited this webpage.
July 27, 2014: Added a time deadline for certification assessment after a training.
November 28, 2011: Added an insurance company for the UK and another for the USA to the list.
Nov 20 2009: Changed the course number from 170 to 180.
July 9, 2008. This course #170 is based on course #180 description, but with the requirements for mental illness, suicide and spiritual emergency moved to the new course #150.