Certified Practitioner Application Guidelines

As soon as you decide to apply for certification, please send us an email stating that you are planning to apply for the certification process. Send this email no later than June 1 of the year in which you will be submitting your application materials. Candidates who submit applications without informing us by June 1 of their intention to sit for the exam will be charged an extra administrative fee for failure to register for the application review process.

You may submit application materials only between January 1 and July 15 of the year in which you plan to take your examination. In order to meet the July 15 submission deadline, allow enough time for your primary and secondary trainer and your third endorser to get these materials to the ABE by July 15 (allowing for mail delivery delays). Forms received at other times will be returned to the person(s) who sent them to us; other references and letters of endorsement will be discarded.

Candidates must successfully complete both the written examination and the on-site observation within five years of being admitted to the certification process.

Contact us by email by June 1. In the Subject Line insert: “CP Address Information” In the body of the email, include complete contact information including your name, degree, address, phone number, for example:

J.L. Moreno, M.D.
259 Wolcott Avenue
Beacon, NY 12508
Moreno@beaconhouse.org
(555) 555-5555

Registration is required so that the Admissions Committee can reserve adequate time to review your application for certification. As soon as we receive your email we will make a reservation for the Admissions Committee to review your materials.

Candidates who submit applications without emailing us of their intention to sit for the exam by June 1 will be charged an additional administrative fee for failure to register for the application review process.

• CP Application Form
• Verification of Supervised Experience Form
• Primary Trainer Endorsement Form
• Secondary Trainer Endorsement Form
• Third Professional Endorsement Form
• Non-mental Health Education Verification Form [if applicable]

Review the Application Checklist.

Give the appropriate forms to the person(s) who will be submitting references and recommendations for you in time for receipt of all materials at the American Board of Examiners by July 15. Remind them that the deadline for receipt of all materials is July 15. We do not accept electronic submissions of application materials or recommendations. Give the person a postage-paid envelope pre-addressed to:

American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy
1629 K Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006-1631

Note that your Third Professional Endorser may not be another student in psychodrama training nor another applicant for certification.

Applicants who are licensed master’s level mental health professionals must submit a copy of their professional license with the application materials but do not have to submit transcripts.

All other applicants whose degree is in an approved related mental health field must submit official transcripts from all master’s level or higher degrees (but are not required to submit undergraduate transcripts).

If you are not licensed and your graduate degree is not in an approved related mental health field, you must have addressed the education requirement for non-mental health practitioners and must submit the Non-mental Health Education Verification Form.

Submit application review fee with your application. Residents of countries other than Canada or the USA must pay an additional application review fee to cover extra costs associated with postage and phone calls to other countries.

If you are admitted, an examination fee is due September 1.

Candidates who fail to submit fees by the specified deadlines will be assessed a late fee.

If you have cognitive, medical, or psychological difficulties, you may request that the written exam be administered for longer time periods and/or several days. On request, the written exam may be scheduled up to two days prior or two days after the regularly scheduled date. Regardless of when you take the exam, final copies must be sent with tracking within four working days after taking the written exam and guaranteed to arrive no later than October 31.

Submit such requests and documentation from a medical or mental health provider no later than July 15.

There may be other reasons why you need to change the date for the written exam. Refer to Written Exam Options for other conditions when you may request a change in dates. This request must be received by July 15.

Additional charges may be assessed to pay for the added expense of creating a tailor made exam and for office staff being on duty for extra time or additional days.

If you would like confirmation of receipt of your application materials, use a tracking service. (You should already have sent an email alerting us to your application.) If there are any missing materials from your application, we will contact you. Otherwise, we will not contact you until a decision has been reached on whether you will be admitted to the examination process.

You will be notified of your admission or the reasons you were not admitted to the examination process no later than August 30.

This is a closed book exam. You are on your honor to create new essays on the day of the exam to answer the exam questions. You may not look at your notes or any other resources when taking the exam. You may not cut and copy from any document whether printed out or on your computer. This includes copying from any materials you wrote before the exam. You may not search the internet or online for any information regarding definitions for psychodrama terms or answers for your exam.

Candidates who take the written exam are prohibited from sharing information about the written exam. Review the specific guidelines about what you may communicate and when.

The Board may release information about applicants and candidates (e.g., “Mr. Smith has applied for certification” or “Mr. Smith is a candidate for certification”). The Board does not release specific information concerning the status of an individual, who has applied for certification (e.g., “Mr. Smith applied for certification but has failed to complete documentation of his training hours” or “Mr. Smith requested an application package but hasn’t returned it yet”). The Board does not release information about specific candidates concerning the examination process, (e.g., “Mr. Smith failed the written exam” or “Mr. Smith passed his written exam but has not yet scheduled his on-site”).