Frequently Asked Questions

Accredit: verb ac·cred·it \ə-ˈkre-dət\
: to say that something is good enough to be given official approval
: to recognize or vouch for as conforming with a standard
: to consider or recognize something as outstanding

– Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Accreditation History

Some of AAMET’s most important principles are openness and clarity (in other words “transparency”). As a membership organisation, we operate with consensus and sharing processes. Our aim is for EFT to become ever more widely available for good in the world and for it to be practised ethically, safely and effectively.

Members of our Board and Teams work on a voluntary basis steadfastly toward that aim and the organisation has registered charitable status. Safe and effective use of EFT depends on standards of education and training for those using/practising it; thus establishing and maintaining educational standards for EFT is of utmost importance to AAMET. We therefore have a defined AAMET syllabus for EFT training at all levels. We use the terms “certified” and “accredited,” and we have an Accreditation Coordinator.

Definition of Terms:

Certification and Accreditation

We use the terms “Certification” and “Accreditation” to refer to the process by which practitioners, first learn EFT from their AAMET Master Trainer and the trainer assesses that they have reached the standard required to start to practise safely and effectively (certification), and then secondly become accredited by AAMET (accreditation).

Certification is issued to trainees by the trainer only. Accreditation is a direct interaction with AAMET involving both the trainee and an AAMET-accredited Trainer. The trainee practitioner joins AAMET as a student level member and takes AAMET’s Practitioner (or Advanced Practitioner) online examination, which is assessed by AAMET, independently of the trainer’s assessment. When a student passes this examination and s/he has also trained with an AAMET Master Trainer who confirms to AAMET that the student has met the criteria laid down within the AAMET Training Syllabus, that student can upgrade to Accredited Certified Practitioner level member (or Accredited Certified Advanced Practitioner, respectively). The Practitioner is “certified” by his/her trainer and then “accredited” by AAMET.

Internal

This accreditation process is a form of organisational accreditation, for which the official term used in UK is “internal accreditation”. Many complementary therapy courses are internally accredited by various professional organisations and associations.

External

The other type of accreditation is national-level accreditation, known officially in UK as “external accreditation”. External accreditation is when an educational institution seeks recognition of its courses and qualifications by an external, usually government-run regulator such as Ofqual in the UK or NCFHE in Malta (www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofqual/about). It is an ultimate level of recognition and therefore also extremely rigorous, detailed, exacting, uncompromising even regarding certain requirements. To illustrate, an example would be the requirement for every examiner marking UK GCSE and A-Level national exam papers to attend standardisation meetings for a day where the minutiae of every mark for the exam are agreed. Clearly, external accreditation is usually only taken up by organisations with significant resources available to commit to this.

AAMET Accreditation Process: History

In 2012-14, when AAMET first committed to move toward an accreditation process, our then Chair, Helena Fone, ambitiously took the additional step toward external accreditation with NCFHE (National Commission for Further and Higher Education) Malta. Her intention was to create a new Master Trainer Course and for that course to be accredited by NCFHE Malta.

Helena announced the launch of the new AAMET internal accreditation process that commenced in 2014, alongside the move toward external accreditation of the new Master Trainer course. There was a certain lack of clarity as a result of introducing so many changes within a short period of time. We wish to redress that confusion by spelling out the chronology of events and providing a clear statement of how we intend to move forward.

The 2014 AAMET Master Trainer internal accreditation process required all existing AAMET Trainers and Trainers of Trainers to:

• Study a course manual that Helena had created
• Take an exam that tested knowledge from the course manual plus knowledge of AAMET’s EFT training structures and requirements for certification and accreditation
• If necessary, update their website according to AAMET trainer requirements
• Provide details of courses delivered and number of trainees during the preceding year
• Provide details of their supervision/mentoring and CPD record
• Provide personal references from both a supervisor and someone who had trained with them
• Sign a Trainer’s Contract

Those who did not complete that process within 18 months from 1st January 2014 were not able to continue training as AAMET Trainers.

This is a process of internal accreditation. Helena devised the process, working with members of AAMET’s Training Board and Accreditation Panel. The Accreditation Panel led by Christine Sutton, Accreditation Coordinator then implemented the process. Trainer accreditation was mandatory. Alongside this there was an optional internal accreditation process for Practitioners and Advanced Practitioners, which also involved provision of CPD and supervision/mentoring records, references, website check and taking the AAMET online exam for the relevant level.

Since 2014 anyone trained to Practitioner or Advanced Practitioner level by an AAMET Accredited Master Trainer has automatically gained “accredited” status upon completion of the certification and registration requirements. Many AAMET Certified Practitioner-level members who gained certification before 2014 took advantage of this new system concomitantly to upgrade their skills and knowledge from Certified Practitioner to Accredited Certified Advanced Practitioner level. The majority of AAMET Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner level members have now achieved AAMET-accredited status. This is encouraging as eventually the old, non-accredited Certified Practitioner and Certified Advanced Practitioner designations will be withdrawn. Currently those members with accredited status have listing advantages, including a full personal profile page on our new website that was launched in October 2016.

Alongside this comprehensive internal accreditation process a move toward external accreditation of the Master Trainer course to be used for training new AAMET Master Trainers took place, perhaps triggering some confusion between the two processes. For the purpose of achieving clarity, transparency and an accurate record, a historical chronology is provided at the end of this article.

Moving Forward

AAMET is an international organisation with EFT Master Trainers spread across the globe. It is the only EFT organisation to be structured formally as a not-for-profit professional association with an Executive Board comprised entirely of volunteers. Our volunteers are drawn internationally from a range of long-standing professional EFT-ers, each with a passion for the promotion and teaching of EFT that honours Gary Craig’s original EFT instruction, incorporating also some of Gary Craig’s newer Gold Standard EFT developments.

A majority of Gary Craig’s EFT Founding Masters are/have been members of, or otherwise support AAMET; EFT Founding Master Judy Byrne is on our Board. Ann Adams, who ran the original EFT Master Programme together with Gary Craig is developing a new, advanced Master Practitioner Programme exclusively linked to AAMET, which will be taught in modules by EFT Founding Masters Emma Roberts, Sue Beer, Judy Byrne, Nancy Gnecco. Our Training Board and Accreditation Panel operate with great diligence and commitment to ongoing excellence with EFT.

For such an international organisation, external accreditation is beset with logistical challenges. External accreditation in any case is known to be resource-intensive. It is predominantly a national-level procedure and would lend itself imperfectly to an international network.

Internal accreditation, on the other hand, serves both our international organisation and EFT well. We are able to gather together international experts in the field of EFT and achieve consensus regarding quality and educational standards. We can use assessment procedures that best lend themselves to the situation and are nonetheless rigorous. We can involve and grow our network of first-class accredited EFT Trainers. We continue to involve consultants who specialise in assisting in external accreditation procedures to inform our internal accreditation procedures, ensuring that we have the ‘best of both’ – high quality, well-designed accreditation processes that suit both our international organisation and the nature and ethos of EFT in particular.

We have no intention of engaging further with NCFHE Malta. We will continue to strengthen and improve our training and assessment structures, our syllabi and materials, our support for our Trainers, consistently working closely with our own international teams. As in many complementary therapy organisations, our internal accreditation programme effectively serves our trainers, members and our organisation’s aims.

AAMET External Accreditation involvement – Chronology 2012-2017

2012 – 2014

• Helena Fone, who was based in Malta, initiated production of a Master Trainer course structure and course manual with NCFHE Malta for it to be externally accredited as a Level 4 (1st year degree level) qualification within the European Qualification Framework (EQF). Helena compiled the Master Trainer Course Manual and AAMET purchased the copyright for this manual from her.

Autumn 2013: AAMET’s internal accreditation process for commencement January 2014 was announced.

June 2014: Helena Fone stepped down from AAMET Chair and Executive Board, having completed the 5 years’ service to which she had originally committed (2009-2014)

2014: Prolonged and detailed negotiations continued to progress with NCFHE Malta to meet their standards for acceptance of the Master Trainer Course within EQF at Level 4

2014 – 2015: Shoshana Garfield, PhD, AAMET Vice Chair, continued and completed the work. NCFHE eventually confirmed that the course met with their standards for recognition and external accreditation. AAMET celebrated this success with the announcement that the Master Trainer Course was externally accredited with NCFHE Malta.

2015: NCFHE unexpectedly then informed us that they additionally required provision of qualifications of all those who would be delivering and assessing the AAMET Master Trainer Course. AAMET no longer had any Trainers in Malta. Furthermore, AAMET’s Master Trainers of Trainers were spread across the globe. In light of all this, it was neither authentic nor viable to complete registration as a Maltese educational institution.

2017: It was brought to our attention that the Master Trainer Course does not appear on NCFHE database as an accredited course. Upon investigation it became clear that this is only because AAMET is not listed by NCFHE as a Maltese educational institution, as detailed above. We continue to note publicly that the course was recognised by NCFHE Malta as meeting EQF standards. We do this to honour the huge amount of work that went into meeting external accreditation standards.

AAMET Accreditation is the extra level of accountability we’ve put in place to ensure that our member Trainers and Practitioners are meeting AAMET certification standards and competencies.

There are 6 steps to becoming an accredited EFT practitioner: Pre: certification

• Complete level 1 and 2 EFT training.
• Complete minimum of 4 case studies(2 sessions per case study). You will receive a case study manual and I will offer you guidance through this process.
• Evaluation of a Complete EFT Session. Your trainer will observe and evaluate a full EFT session. In place of a live, in-person session, your trainer may instead allow and evaluate a video- OR audio-recording of a live session. The live session (and followup discussion) will then count as one of the mandatory case studies( as above)
• Complete a minimum of 46 practice hours of 45 minutes or longer, with at least 20 different individuals. This will ensure that you as a potential EFT practitioner have actual working experience – and not just classroom knowledge of EFT.
• Pass the online multiple-choice exam via AAMET site for approx. $27 (you get 3 attempts) Sign in as a “friend” to complete the exam.
• Complete 6 hours of either 1 on 1 or group supervision with an approved supervisor of which I am. You can also opt to do a combination for example 3 x 1 hour private supervision sessions and 3 hours in a group.

Post certification:

• 6 hours of either group supervision private supervision per year.

I currently offer the group sessions of 3 hours. 6 hours (A full day) or Private supervision, one on one. This can be done via Skype or in person.

• 30 hour’s CPD hours per year.

Please note:  Supervision fees are in addition to course fee’s

Important:

Prior to asking for volunteers for your minimum of 4 case studies (consists of 2 sessions) and 46 practice sessions (total of 50), ask your volunteer to email you with their issues

• This way you know what you are going to work on (also reminding them you are not yet ready to address significant trauma) this applies more to when you first begin your sessions. Once you progress and gain confidence at using the TT and MT you will likely practice with some moderate trauma (many issues arise from some significant distressing event but not all) and feel confident guiding them.
• Give your volunteer a selection of issues to work on to practice your techniques such as:
  • Pain, cravings, addictions, general anxiety, social anxiety, fears, phobias, relationship challenges, grief, Limiting beliefs such as Im not worthy &  some minor distressing memories they would like to clear using the Tearless t and Movie T etc.
• This all helps to support you in your process and it is very clear from the beginning that your “practicing” meaning you are taking the pressure off yourself to resolve their issues as YOU ARE LEARNING.

It’s a bonus for them to receive relief but the goal is for you to practice and gain confidence.

Case studies/practice sessions

I highly encourage you to get one done asap to get the ball is rolling.

Case studies (Minimum of 4) 1 hour only in duration

1 case study is 2 individual sessions with one person. ie one session then a follow up with same person

1 of these 4 needs to be on yourself

1 to be recorded (use your phone and send as an MP3) alternatively record your session on Zoom

*Note: you only need to write a summary of how the recorded session went. YOU DO NOT NEED TO WRITE UP A FULL SESSION.

I require a minimum of 4 case studies, if in doubt about this process please check in with me

Important. Please ensure you read the manual sent in an email as this outlines what is required.

I require approx 2 – 2.5 sides of A4 no more

Remember to illustrate:

• How you explained EFT
• A selection of the questions you asked and some of the set-up statements used
• Which Techniques you used and why
• How you tested the results
• How you overcame any resistance or blocks i.e. New setup statements hydration, 9 Gamut , safety issues etc

Please send me one case study at a time. At this stage the cost of reviewing your case studies and giving any feedback is included in your mentoring fee’s.

Practice sessions total of 46. Please send through 5 practice sessions at a time. I do not give official feedback on these but am required to sight them

Approx. 40-45 minutes in duration, with at least 20 different individuals. This will ensure that you as a potential EFT practitioner have actual working experience – and not just classroom knowledge of EFT. You can find people to swap with globally on the EFTi  site once you have registered as a student. Go to the library to access many others in your situation.

Important please note: You can use the practice session form/template for both case study and practice hours. However, the practice sessions are brief notes, the case study is more thorough, remember to look at the manual and approx. 1-1.5 sides of A4.

I need to sight these practice sessions only; I do not mark them. I will give brief feedback during mentoring or when appropriate via email if you need me to clarify anything you struggled with. Highlight this the section, to discuss with Mentor.

Feedback for case studies and practice sessions

Feedback will be given during your private supervision sessions however, if you have highlighted a pressing issue to discuss more urgently prior to your booked session please flag this in the title of an email. Please do not contact me via WhatsApp or other Social media platforms regarding this.

Availability for mentoring private sessions & and choosing your mentor

I am generally booked about 2/3 weeks in advance. If you would like for me to be your supervisor/mentor. I advice you book in as soon as possible and plan ahead, we can always reschedule if I am given notice of least 3 days in advance. I do have a waitlist if you wish to go on here and I can notify you if I get cancellations.

I am always honoured to support you through the process of becoming a practitioner and supporting you with your ongoing mentoring that is required post qualification. However, you are not obliged to work only with me, you can see another qulaified EFT International supervisor  or you can see me for some hours and also with another.

Please note: if you have recently attending Level 2 and are at the beginning of your journey in completing practice sessions and case studies; please discuss with me a plan to work together privately to review your work for at least 3, 1 hour sessions before attending the group supervision.

The initial supervision sessions are usually set for  discussing your case studies/practice sessions that you have submitted. In addition I may sometimes give brief feedback via a voice message.

If time permits in the booked session i.e we have reviewed what is necessary, then I am happy to assist to clear your personal issue that could relate to you moving forward with your practice ie anxiety, nerves about being a practitioner, fear of failure, being seen, overwhlem and any related trauma and other associated limiting beliefs.

In addtion you can book in a separate session to work though your issues. All of which can count towards your 6 hours.

Sumary: You need to complete the 6 hours of Pre supervision along with other requirements before becoming a practitioner. Some people only require  3, 1 hour supervision sessions of feedback on Case studies and practice sessions once they know what is required and how to use my template form. Therefore you oftern have 3, 1 hour sessions to work with me on your personal issues.