Becoming a Certified CO-OP Therapist

Certification is available to health care professionals who have attended a CO-OP ApproachTM workshop (3 days – basic workshop plus consolidation day) either online - see courses - or in person and/or synchronous online workshops - see courses - offered by an instructor approved by the ICAN (formerly CO-OP Academy). An individual can be certified as a CO-OP therapist by demonstrating competency in CO-OP’s essential elements though the ICAN's exclusive online CO-OP Certification Course - see courses. 

To receive certification a therapist must demonstrate competence in the application of the five essential elements of CO-OP, most especially, use of strategies, guided discovery and dynamic performance analysis, and enabling principles. Once the competencies have been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the certifying instructor, the therapist is issued a certificate by ICAN and a certification number. The name of all therapists having received certification in the previous five years appear on the ICAN website. All other names will be kept in the website archive.

Our course options are designed to accommodate learners who wish to take CO-OP online exclusively, as well as those who have taken in-person workshops and wish to pursue Consolidation or Certification.  
 

3 Routes to Becoming a Certified CO-OP Therapist

 

How does the certification process work?

  • The certification session is online, in a group of four to six participants. The facilitator/examiner is an instructor from the ICAN.
  • During the session, each participant is required to present a clinical case (maximum of 20 minutes) to demonstrate his or her use of the essential elements of the CO-OP approach, as discussed during the training. To that end, the participant must use video clips or a video montage. A PowerPoint presentation can also be used.
  • Zoom will be used as the platform for the online session, which will allow for the sharing of videos and for participants and instructors to see each other.
  • Videos must be sent to instructor five days before session for review. It is important to clarify with your client how information will be transferred to the instructor.
  • A 10 to 15-minute discussion and feedback session will follow the presentation.
  • On a rotational basis, each participant will facilitate the discussion period and identify strengths and areas for improvement.
  • During this presentation and throughout the discussions, the participant must demonstrate that clients identify their own goals, and that dynamic performance analysis, global cognitive strategy, domain specific strategies, guided discovery, and enabling principles are used.

Certification

  • The presentation and discussion periods are used to determine competency in CO-OP essential elements.
  • Participants demonstrating the implementation of essential elements of the CO-OP ApproachTM will receive a certificate from the ICAN confirming that they are now certified therapists. Their name and contact information will appear on the ICAN website.
  • If the instructor judges that the participant has not mastered the essential elements of the CO-OP ApproachTM, no certificate will be issued.
  • The instructor will meet with the participant to discuss areas of improvement and the participant will be allowed to register at no cost for one other certification session.

* If you want to gather a group of four to six therapists, you can contact us to organize your own certification session.

How to Register?

Visit the learning about CO-OP and Courses page for a list of all available options.

The ICAN has sole responsibility for the certification of CO-OP therapists.