by Aleksandra Djuric,
delegate to the EAP
As psychotherapy continues to evolve across Europe, collaboration between professional organisations plays an essential role in maintaining high standards and ensuring recognition of the profession. In this article, EAP delegate Aleksandra Djuric offers an overview of how EATA and the European Association for Psychotherapy work together to support the development, accreditation and professional mobility of Transactional Analysis psychotherapists.
Cooperation between EATA and EAP:
Strengthening Psychotherapy Standards across Europe
The European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP) was founded in 1991 on the principles of the Strasbourg Declaration on Psychotherapy. Its mission is to standardize, regulate and protect the professional practice of psychotherapy across Europe. Operating through umbrella organisations in more than 40 countries, the EAP pursues several key objectives:
- Establishing and maintaining high standards of psychotherapy training
- Awarding the European Certificate of Psychotherapy (ECP)
- Protecting the public through a central register of accredited ECP holders
- Advocating for the legal recognition of psychotherapy as an independent scientific profession at both EU and national levels
- Promoting research and strengthening the connection between scientific evidence and clinical practice
EATA is represented within the EAP through the European Wide Accrediting Organisation (EWAO) Committee. This committee monitors the development of specific psychotherapy modalities across Europe and evaluates whether they meet EAP criteria for recognition. To achieve recognition, each modality must demonstrate scientific validity according to the EAP’s criteria, including the “15 Questions on Scientific Validity.”
Once a modality has been recognised, the EWAO may accredit training institutes within that modality as European Accredited Psychotherapy Training Institutes (EAPTIs). EATA appoints a delegate to the EAP for a four-year mandate. In addition, recognised modalities undergo a reaccreditation process every seven years to ensure continued compliance with EAP scientific and professional standards.
A major current initiative of the EAP is the development of a Common Training Framework (CTF) in cooperation with the European Commission. This framework aims to establish shared professional standards for psychotherapy across Europe. Active collaboration from all modalities represented within the EWAO has been essential to this process.
Transactional Analysis (TA) is recognised as a modality with particularly high standards in training and supervision. At the same time, continued alignment with emerging common training standards remains important. One example concerns the required number of hours of personal therapy within training programmes. Harmonisation of such standards is crucial for achieving broader recognition of psychotherapy as a profession throughout Europe.
In parallel, the EAP is working toward the recognition of the European Certificate of Psychotherapy as a qualification aligned with the Common Training Framework. Such recognition would facilitate professional mobility, allowing qualified psychotherapists to practise more easily across EU member states.
Within this context, the CTA-P (Certified Transactional Analyst — Psychotherapy) credential serves as a fundamental indicator of professional competence and quality standards within the TA modality. CTA-P is a basic requirement for EAP membership as a TA psychotherapist. Furthermore, eligibility for the ECP depends on the continued accreditation of the modality through the EWAO system. Consequently, EATA plays a vital role in maintaining the professional standards, accreditation processes and certification structures that support both the recognition of TA psychotherapy and the wider European framework for professional psychotherapy qualifications.
Aleksandra Djuric, delegate to the EAP
