PHTA -Training Therapists of the Future, since 1987

AN INTEGRATED APROACH TO PSYCHOTHERAPY TRAINING
WHICH ATTRACTS STUDENTS FROM THE UK
AND INTERNATIONALLY

Underpinning the PHTA curriculum is our focus on counselling skills, understanding the importance of the relationship between therapist and client. Students learn counselling skills from several psychological perspectives and are taught the importance of an ethical and professional approach. Building on this base, students are

taught a combination of hypnotherapy and NLP, and a range of psychotherapy models. We also teach how to set up and run an ethical and professional practice. On successful completion of the course the PHTA trained therapist will use a combination of psychotherapy; counselling skills based on humanistic, existential and psychodynamic models, and also CBT, hypnotherapy and NLP.

Underlying all of these approaches is PHTA’s commitment to the client or person centred approach to therapy. Whatever therapeutic model a therapist chooses to work with, it needs to be based on an empathic relationship between client and therapist. Therapy is, in our view, about human connection, about creating an environment in which clients feel comfortable and safe to explore possibilities. When this is achieved change can take place. Can we simply reduce human beings to theories, diagrams and neurological activity; is there something intrinsically human that science cannot define?

The PHTA curriculum is flexible, and is regularly amended to reflect ongoing changes and new ideas in psychology.

Psychology, therapy training and practice are always evolving, and the PHTA course reflects this evolution.

A question that often arises is whether therapy is an art or a science. In our view therapy is an art underpinned by science, and this is how we approach training. We build from an academic and skill base, but actively encourage our students to be creative and to develop their intuitive skills. We place considerable emphasis on practical training - students spend significant time working in pairs and groups practising their skills. We also emphasise the importance of

developing the self-awareness that is so vital to good therapeutic practice.

On completion of the course students are able to join our three independent accrediting bodies, the National Council of Psychotherapists, the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council (including the General Hypnotherapy Register), and the National Council for Hypnotherapy. This will allow students to gain public liability insurance, to be listed on the relevant websites for client referrals, and to practise in an ethical framework with a recognised code of ethics and complaints procedure (PHTA also has its’ own code of ethics). Our accrediting bodies are among the longest standing in the UK.