Preamble:

Article 6 of the Psychotherapy Profession Act (Chapter 587) stipulates:

(6)A warrant issued under this Act shall continue to have effect, provided that the warrant holder shall, every three years, prove to the satisfaction of the Board that he has carried out such programme, or programmes, of continuing professional development as may be prescribed.

Definition:

Continuous professional development (CPD) is the ongoing process of developing, maintaining and documenting your professional skills, knowledge and development. CPD is mandatory for all warranted psychotherapists. It benefits clients, psychotherapists, employers, other stakeholders and society as a whole.

Psychotherapists have to update and develop their knowledge and skills on an ongoing basis. This commitment demonstrates and ensures professional competence, high standards, good quality service and accountability for the public.

CPD requirements and procedures:

All psychotherapists are to maintain a continuous, up to date and accurate record of CPD activities. The official CPD Activity Log must be used. Activity logs are to be submitted once every three years to the Board for the Psychotherapy Profession in Malta.

In order for the warrant to continue to have effect, psychotherapists are required to complete one hundred and fifty hours of CPD over a period of three years. A minimum of thirty-six hours (twelve hours per year) must be supervision hours. This is required for those in fulltime professional practice or its equivalent in part-time practice (not less than a minimum of half the amount established).

Registered Supervisors are required to receive hyper-vision (supervision of supervision) that is part of, or in addition to, the supervision hours required to practice.

In the case were evidence of the required CPD hours is not provided and/or not satisfied, the warrant may be suspended.

Psychotherapists resuming practice after a career break of less than three years shall have to complete twenty hours of CPD (per year of the career break) prior to reactivation of their warrant. If the break exceeds three years, the Board for the Psychotherapy Profession in Malta will advise on the requirements prior to reactivation.

Different forms of CPD:

CPD can be taken in the following forms:

1. Advanced or additional post qualification professional psychotherapy training. (Please list these; include detail of the provider and a synopsis of the course; indicate the number of hours for each course; and attach copies of attendance certificate/s).
2. Professional supervision for psychotherapy practice/clinical/group work and peer supervision. (Please indicate name of supervisor/institute; hours of supervision; and the total number of hours; attach a letter of attestation from the supervisor/s).
3. Personal therapy (Please list the name/s of the therapist/s and provide a letter attesting to the duration of the therapy, frequency of sessions and total number of obtained hours of personal therapy)
4. Attending or presenting at: psychotherapy conferences, symposia, workshops, seminars, video-conferences, organised by recognised bodies (Please list title, date and organisation for each and indicate number of hours of session time attended in each. Please attach copies of all attendance certificates or a letter from the organiser/s attesting to your attendance/presentation).
5. Professional activities in psychotherapy including being elected to a Board or a Committee and attending meetings. (Please indicate organisation, dates of committee/board meetings, and number of formal hours of each meeting.)
6. Participation in extra psychotherapy training as a supervisor/researcher/teacher (Provide letters of attestation and/or other evidence of this).
7. Writing, editing, publishing or delivering of research papers; on-line professional activities related to the profession; articles in the media (magazines; newspaper; newsletters etc) that are of educational value to the public, service-users and to clients.

While not all of the above CPD forms are necessarily required, CPD hours should not consist of more than 30% from any one listed CPD category.