To qualify for the CTA, you must complete:

• 600 hours of professional training, at least 300 of which must be TA-specific with a PTSTA/TSTA.
• 150 hours of supervision, of which 75 must be TA supervision (including 40 hours with your principal supervisor).
• 750 hours of professional practice in your chosen field.
• 500 personal development hours — Conferences, non-TA trainings (validated by your trainer), and additional TA training hours beyond the minimum requirements.
• Personal therapy or development — mandatory for psychotherapy, recommended for other fields. (No hours specified by IBOC, but 100–150 hours are recommended.)

These requirements can be accumulated gradually. All eligible hours completed before signing your contract still count, provided they meet ITAA standards.

If you have no prior client experience, you’ll practise only within class and peer settings in Year 1.

After a readiness conversation and brief assessment with your trainer, you may begin client work in Year 2.

If you are already in the helping profession, you can start practice with supervision.

Yes, if those hours were TA-informed — meaning you consciously applied TA theory in your practice. Earlier hours can count if your primary supervisor approves.

Supervision is a reflective process with a qualified practitioner who helps you explore your professional challenges, countertransference, and parallel processes.

You’ll begin supervision once you start applying TA in practice.

Supervisors work with contracts, promote professional identity, attend to ethical responsibility, and protect client well-being.

The supervision audios in the LMS will give you an idea of what supervision could look like.

Trainees are encouraged to move at their own pace, fulfilling IBOC (the certifying body of the ITAA) requirements gradually.

Training to CTA level typically takes at least four years (including the foundational year). Thereafter, most trainees take one to five years to accumulate hours and prepare for the exam — some longer, depending on personal and professional rhythms.

Progress is rarely linear. You’ll experience phases of confidence and questioning. What matters is that you keep checking your intent and keep coming back.

Yes. You can pause between years and return when ready. This is adult learning, not a race.

Your journey includes:

• Training
• Supervision
• Sponsorship

Your sponsor is the person with whom you sign your CTA contract. Both of you commit to preparing for and completing the exam within five years of signing. The sponsor must be from your chosen field of specialization.

If you are training with me, I sign the contract only when I am confident that you are emotionally and intellectually ready to complete the journey — so often only in your third year, and after I have done at least 10 supervisions with you and having seen some of your CTA writing.

While TA theory is largely common, its applications differ:

• Psychotherapy: Helps individuals process past pain and resolve archaic patterns.
• Counselling: Focuses on awareness, problem-solving, and autonomy in everyday life.
• Organisational: Applies TA to workplaces to enhance leadership, teams, and culture.
• Educational: Supports teachers and learners in fostering reflection and growth.

You may train with a trainer from another field, but your principal supervisor and sponsor must match your chosen field.

It’s perfectly fine to begin training before deciding. If you’re already practising as a psychotherapist, counsellor, educator, or organisational consultant, choose the field that fits your work context.

If you shift focus mid training, you can change fields by selecting a new supervisor from that field — all earlier training hours still count.

At The School of You, in the long run, we hope to partner with trainers from all fields so that you can qualify in the area that truly fits you.

TA training is designed as adult learning, built on shared responsibility. Trainers and supervisors guide you, but you are the architect of your own growth.

Stage 1 – Orientation & Exploration
Begin by reading the ITAA Handbook and familiarising yourself with CTA requirements. This stage is about curiosity, not proof of readiness. Do not consider the training without reading the ITAA handbook once.

Stage 2 – Experiencing the Method
Join the training, journal, practise with peers, and begin logging eligible hours. Attend conferences and community events to test the fit and find what inspires you.

Stage 3 – Owning the Learning, start application
Move from participation to authorship. Track your progress, take initiative in supervision, and integrate TA in your work and relationships.

Stage 4 – Formal Commitment
Choose your Principal Supervisor (PTSTA/TSTA) and sign the CTA Training Contract with IBOC.

Signing the contract is a milestone — not a finish line. Let this be the beginning of training with fuller intention, accountability, and support.

Yes — and it’s encouraged. It’s easier to develop your own personal style when you experience a range of trainers and perspectives.

At the School of You, we invite trainers from all over the world for periodic brief webinars. These are open sessions and you are welcome to join any of these. We will also bring in some trainers into the CTA training itself.

Participating in larger community events will give you access to other trainers. Reaching out to them for supervision will be your initiative.

Progression depends on attendance and readiness. You should:

• Attend at least 90% of sessions on time. Maintain the core adult contracts of showing up on time, keeping up with all communication from the trainer.
• Complete all LMS lessons on schedule.
• Demonstrate conceptual understanding and personal integration in an annual assessment that will involve writing and supervision.

Advancement is a collaborative decision between you and your trainer.

To start with, it is OK. Many people undertake TA training for self-growth or professional enrichment. However, if you plan to practise professionally, it is ethical to work toward certification and meet professional standards.

No, but it is a highly recommended milestone.

It helps you consolidate learning, gain structured feedback, and build confidence before committing to the CTA contract. Many trainees complete their Diploma as a reflective checkpoint.

Maintain a Training & Practice Log that records:

• Training hours (TA and non-TA)
• Supervision hours (individual/group)
• Client/practice hours
• Personal therapy and professional development hours

Most trainees use a spreadsheet. Your supervisor reviews and signs off annually.

Here is a sample spreadsheet

Training hours

Dates / months / years	Type of training (TA, non TA)	Hours accumulated
For example: Reimagine You – Feb – Nov 2024	TA	120

Supervision Hours

Dates / months / years	TA/ non TA	Individual / Group	Supervisor Name	Hours Accumulated

Application Hours

Date	Client Initials	Type of application Therapy / Group Therapy	Hours of Application

Expect an investment of ₹6–7 lakhs over about eight years, including:

• Training fees: ₹3,00,000 (over three years after the foundation year)
• Supervision: ₹50,000 per year (for years you take supervision). Offered in groups — 12–15 sessions across the year, including writing supervision.
• Therapy, workshops, and exam fees: variable, based on what you choose.
• Memberships: SAATA ₹800/year; ITAA student membership USD 90/year

Please budget for an annual increase that is inflationary. This is a long-term investment in both professional credibility and personal transformation.

Video presentations of TA concepts (20 videos of approx. 30 min each) and supervision audios (10 audios) are available on The School of You Learning Management System (LMS) for every year of training. Each module includes assessments and application prompts.

You need to complete the LMS requirements for the year, within the year of training, to progress to the next year.

An ITAA membership is required to access the Transactional Analysis Journal (TAJ).

No, it doesn’t.

To call yourself a clinical psychologist, licensed by the RCI (Rehabilitation Council of India), you need to follow the pathway laid out by them, which is currently in transition.

The NCAHP Act aims to regulate and maintain standards of education and services rendered by allied and healthcare professionals in the country. It recognizes 56 professional titles grouped into ten recognized categories.

NCAHP – National Council of Allied Health Professionals Act (2021) has initiated the data collection process. There is a broad category “Community Care and Behavioral Health Sciences Professionals” that provides scope for Transactional Analysts in psychotherapy and counselling certification to register.

Currently CTA / MH-TAP / SAATA Advanced Diploma can register in the portal.

In short, the CTA does not make you a licensed psychotherapist. It allows you to build high quality therapeutic skills through an extended process of immersive learning.

According to the IBOC Certification and Examinations Handbook (Nov 2024), trainees may use specific terms to describe their status during training but cannot use the title Transactional Analyst until certification.

Before certification:
Those who have signed training contracts may use the phrase:
“In TA training as a Transactional Analyst (Counselling / Education / Organisations / Psychotherapy)”

This may also be used on printed materials (brochures, business cards, websites, etc.), provided it complies with local laws.

Alternatively, trainees may describe themselves as “Trainee Member (of the respective regional TA organization)” or “CTA trainee under supervision.”

You are not allowed to call yourself a psychotherapist before certification.

After certification:
Once qualified, individuals may use the corresponding title for their field:
Certified Transactional Analyst (Counselling / Education / Organisations / Psychotherapy)

Restrictions:
The terms Transactional Analyst, Teaching and/or Supervising Transactional Analyst, or Provisional Teaching and/or Supervising Transactional Analyst may only be used by those who have formally achieved those certifications.

Trainees must not imply certification or endorsement by association with a supervisor or trainer. All advertising or professional materials should be checked with the principal supervisor before use.

The TA logo (the three stacked circles) may only be used by certified members.

In essence, while in training, you may present yourself as “In TA training as a Transactional Analyst (Field)” or “TA trainee under supervision,” but not as a Transactional Analyst until you have passed the CTA examination.