To apply for IACP First Time Accreditation, an applicant must:

1. Be covered by professional indemnity insurance.

2. Have current IACP Garda Vetting in place. Please apply for the Garda Vetting at the time of submitting your documentation for First Time Accreditation, or contact 01 230 35 36 to check if your existing IACP Garda Vetting is current and valid. 

3. Qualified for at least one year but no later than five from an IACP Accredited Counselling/Psychotherapy Course or equivalent. The criteria for non-IACP Accredited courses are listed below. Please include a cover letter with your application if you are applying outside of the accepted timeframes.

4. Have completed 450 hours of client contact work with an Accredited Supervisor (IACP, BACP* or IAHIP) post 100 trainee hours required on the course (post 120 trainee hours if the course began September 2020 or later). The ratio of supervision will be dependent on your membership category. Please see Supervision Requirements for more details.

5.  Have worked with the same Supervisor for at least 12 months post qualifying, and be working with this Supervisor currently. This Supervisor will sign off on your application as a whole. IACP, BACP* or IAHIP Accredited supervisors only. 

6. In the Pre-Accreditation period, a minimum of 45 hours of supervision is required to comply with the ratio of 1-hour supervision to 10 counselling hours. Within these 45 hours, 12 supervision hours can be met by group supervision.

Note that the 1:10 supervision ratio must be followed continuously, and there should not be more than 10 client hours in between supervision sessions. At the time of application, the Accreditation Department will require a yearly breakdown of client work, confirming that the 1:10 supervision ratio was followed annually prior to submitting for full Accreditation. 

6. Commitment to Professional Development. The applicant needs to submit a minimum of 10 hours CPD activities completed 12 months prior to submission of their application, as per IACP CPD Policy (3 hours could be Supervision received).

Students can start counting the 450 client hours towards accreditation after full completion of the currently required minimum 100 student placement hours (120 trainee hours if the course began September 2020 or later), even if still in training on an accredited course. Students are not required to change their Supervisor while in training, and have the option to change their Supervisor after qualifying/graduating from the course. The supervision ratio remains 1:5 for the duration of the core course, until receipt of final transcript of results. 

Students must have completed a minimum of 2 academic years on the course and finished the required 50 hours of personal therapy before they start counting the 450 hours. It is Course's responsibility to manage all client work while in training. IACP recognise supervision with IACP, BACP* or IAHIP Accredited Supervisors only.

A) The 450 hours of client contact work must cover a variety of presenting issues.

B) Complete one hour of supervision for every 5 hours of client contact work as a student, and increase to every 10 hours of client contact work post-qualification. Please see the Supervision Requirements page for full details on the supervision criteria for those working towards accreditation.

Frequency: Individual Supervision must take place at least once a month when the Counsellor/Psychotherapist actively sees or available to see clients

C) Client work for the purpose of first-time accreditation may consist of couple, family or group Counselling/Psychotherapy hours as 25% of the required 450 post-trainee hours. (Client Work refers here to specific one-to-one Counselling/Psychotherapy sessions with clients over 18 years of age – i.e. not minors)

D) Up to 25% of the 450 hours required for the purpose of First Time Accreditation can be with clients who are under 18 if all the criteria and competencies listed in the Standards for Working with Under 18s are met. There must be proof provided of completion of a minimum certificate level additional qualification to work with children & adolescents that encompasses the following modules/themes:

• Child Development
• Atypical psychology
• Neurodevelopment of the brain
• Play skills for the therapist and techniques for working with children
• Legal Training/Children’s Rights/Child Protection Policy/Child Welfare/Consent/Report
• Writing
• Systemic issues/working with parents/guardians/care-givers
• Personal therapy/Group process
• Working with disabilities/special needs clients
• Practical element in training required under strict supervision

The onus is on the applicant to comply with the Standards for Working with Under 18s if the applicant counts such hours towards IACP Accreditation. A copy of the certificate will be required from an applicant at the time of applying for First Time Accreditation as proof of holding an additional qualification to conduct this type of work.

Important Information RE Maximum Amount of Remote Hours 

From June 1st, 2022, 50% of the 450 hours post 1st June 2022 may be completed online/remotely dependent on your membership category. Any hours completed online before this date will be honoured. Please see IACP Criteria for Remote / Online Counselling & Psychotherapy.

Remote supervision is accepted for Pre-accredited Members (qualified) who work with clients both face to face and remotely.

Members who wish to work with clients via telephone or online must follow the IACP Code of Ethics and Practice and IACP guidance and criteria for the provision of online counselling. Please note that there is also a free CPD training course on online counselling in the CPD Portal in our Members Area.