BCET® Membership

The Board Certified Membership is the highest level of professional qualification recognized by AET.

• Open to ET/Professional (ET/P®) members in good standing for at least one year
• Must meet additional requirements specified by the AET Certification Board.
• As a BCET® member, you are required to complete 10 hours (not units) of continuing education annually. Click here to find AET's continuing education guidelines.

Benefits of a Board Certified Membership

• Use of registered service mark BCET®
• Recognition for having achieved the highest level of professional qualification in AET
• Opportunities to support and mentor new educational therapists
• Access to professional liability insurance
• Listing in the AET Referral Directory
• Link from the Referral Directory to your personal website or blog
• Discounts to AET events
• Professional networking and support
• The Educational Therapist Journal
• Admittance to local and virtual study groups
• Access to the Members’ Center on the AET website
• Free or discounted webinars

Requirements for a Board Certified Membership

• Be an ET/P® in good standing for at least one year.
• Have a Master's degree approved by AET (see ET/P® requirement page for details).
• Complete and document an additional 1,000 hours of clinical practice.
• Submit a formal case study that is approved by the Certification Board.
• Pass a written examination on ethical issues and best practices in educational therapy.
• As a BCET® member, you are required to complete 10 hours (not units) of continuing education every year.

Letter of Intent
Case Study Guide Case Study Examples

Board Certification FAQs

Becoming a Board Certified Educational Therapist (BCET®) offers many benefits to AET members. The first is the recognition that they have attained the highest level of professional accomplishment in the field of educational therapy.

Who may apply for Board Certification?

Board Certified Educational Therapist (BCET®) is the highest level of professional qualification recognized by AET. BCET® membership is open to ET/Professional (ET/P®) members in good standing for at least one year, and who have met the additional requirements specified by the AET Certification Board.

You may not apply directly for BCET® membership. You must first achieve Associate ET followed by ET/Professional membership status and maintain ET/P® membership for at least one additional year.

What are the additional requirements for achieving Board Certification?

Step 1: Submission and acceptance of a Case Study written in accord with specified guidelines.

Step 2: Passage of a written examination on best practices in educational therapy. The candidate must also submit documentation of an additional 1,000 hours of direct practice beyond those required for ET/P® approval.

What are the benefits of becoming Board Certified?

• RECOGNITION of having attained the highest level of professional accomplishment in the field of educational therapy:
  BCETs are often sought after by people needing educational therapy services
• LEADERSHIP in the field of educational therapy:
  BCET® members are often called upon to teach in training programs and workshops where they are able to disseminate best practices and accumulated wisdom. This kind of leadership represents the highest form of reinvestment in the future of educational therapy.
• SUPERVISING/MENTORING:
  BCETs supervise educational therapy students who are completing their internships in certificate programs and provide supervision and mentorship to Associate ETs pursuing ET/P® membership. For more information see The Mutual Benefits of Supervising.

 

Step 1: The Case Study

The Case Study is an analytic written discussion of an actual case which has been conducted by the candidate with an individual client over a period of at least one to two years. Guidance for completing the Case Study is offered by AET in several forms, including the Case Study outline, workshops in how to prepare the case study, excerpts from model case studies, and articles from the AET journal, The Educational Therapist

What is the Case Study?

The Case Study is an analytic written discussion of an actual case which has been conducted by the candidate with an individual client over a period of at least one to two years. Guidance for completing the Case Study is offered by AET in several forms, including the Case Study outline, workshops in how to prepare the case study, excerpts from model case studies, and articles from the AET journal, The Educational Therapist. It is also recommended that candidates familiarize themselves with Dorothy Ungerleider’s extended case study in Educational Therapy in Action: Behind and Beyond the Office Door (Routledge, 2011).

The Case Study outline is carefully structured to guide the candidate through the five required sections of the Case Study:

• Presenting Problem
• Background Information
• Assessment
• Psycho-educational Interventions (Academic, Non-Academic)
• Closing Remarks

Who is eligible to submit a Case Study?

To be eligible to submit the case study, Educational Therapist/Professional (ET/P®) members of AET must be in practice long enough to accumulate an additional 1000 hours of direct service, usually three to five years, which must be documented. These 1000 hours are beyond the 1500 hours required to qualify for ET/P® membership, and must extend over a minimum of one year’s membership in AET prior to application.

Please note that some AET ET/P® members begin planning for the case study as soon as they become members at this level, while others defer this step until they acquire a sufficient background of experience, or until they identify a suitable case. Those who wish to remain at the Professional level without becoming certified continue to receive all the benefits of membership in AET, and can still maintain rewarding practices in educational therapy.

What does the Case Study demonstrate about the candidate?

Through the Case Study, the candidate demonstrates the following competencies:

• The ability to evaluate and thoroughly understand client strengths and needs
• The ability to interpret and integrate diagnostic information, including that from Allied Professionals
• The ability to develop appropriate interventions, both academic and non-academic (such as resolving problems that are obstructing the remediation, development of learning strategies, handling issues of self-confidence and self-esteem), based upon a wide repertoire of educational therapy strategies
• The ability to carry out case management on behalf of the client, coordinating information and efforts of all parties and specialists involved with the client, to include family, school, workplace, and Allied Professionals
• The ability to evaluate progress and modify the individualized intervention as needed
• The ability to communicate goals, the results of the intervention, areas of progress or non-progress, and anticipated future issues to all constituents, including the client

How is the Case Study evaluated?

Each Case Study is evaluated by a team of five trained and experienced readers. Case Studies are submitted with no identifying material about either the subject (client) or the candidate. Each reader develops a final score for the Case Study based upon a clearly specified rubric.

If the Case Study fails to pass, the candidate is provided with written feedback and given the opportunity to resubmit the Case Study within a specified time frame. The rewritten Case Study is resubmitted to a different team of readers, who treat it as a new Case Study. Decisions made by the teams of readers may be appealed to the Certification Board.

How do I begin the process of Board Certification?

If you have been an ET/P® in good standing for at least one year, you may begin the process of becoming a Board Certified Educational Therapist by downloading the BCET® Application and Case Study Guide. This document will provide more detailed information about the process in general and the Case Study in particular.  Please follow the instructions as closely as possible to facilitate and expedite the review of your Case Study.

 

Case Study Guide: Part One - Instructions and Application (PDF)
Case Study Guide: Part Two - Examples (PDF)
BCET Certification Videos

Pay Case Study Fee

Step 2: The BCET® Ethics Exam

The BCET® Ethics Exam is designed to expand upon Part 1 of the AET certification process, the Case Study. The intent is to indicate best practices by applying ethically sound principles to short essay questions. The questions focus on issues that pertain to the educational therapy treatment alliance.

Who is eligible to sit for the Board Certification Ethics Examination?

Candidates at the Professional Level of membership whose Case Study has been approved by the Certification Committee are eligible to sit for the ethics examination.

What is the purpose of the Board Certification Ethics Examination?

The ethics exam is designed to expand upon Part 1 of the AET certification process, the Case Study. The intent is to indicate best practices by applying ethically sound principles to short essay questions. The questions focus on issues that pertain to the educational therapy treatment alliance. Most individuals are able to complete the ethics exam within the four-hour limit. Candidates will have the opportunity to demonstrate the following competencies:

• Knowledge of the AET Code of Ethics
• The ability to demonstrate one's ethical thought processes in resolving potential conflicts
• The ability to recognize and fairly represent the points of view of all constituent groups or persons involved with the educational therapy client
• The ability to balance and weigh competing points of view
• The ability to recognize that there may not be clear-cut answers to ethical problems
• The ability to be guided by “what is in the best interests of the client”
• The ability to provide alternative and well-reasoned possible solutions
• The ability to clearly and fairly communicate ideas and possible solutions

How do I prepare for the Ethics Examination?

Candidates prepare for the BCET® Ethics Exam by familiarizing themselves with the AET Code of Ethics, by attending AET sponsored workshops and panels on ethical issues (required of all Professional level members as a Continuing Education requirement every three years), and by attending study groups and other informal discussion opportunities with colleagues.

Materials to support preparation for the exam include the following:

• AET Code of Ethics
• Ethics Examination Study Guide
• Annual Ethics Panels
• Ficksman, M. & Adelizzi, J. U. (2010). The Clinical Practice of Educational Therapy A Teaching Model. NY: Routledge.
• Metcalf, B., (1995) Standards of Practice and the Code of Ethics of the AET, The Educational Therapist. (15–18).
• Metcalf, B., (2009) ET and Assessment: Ethical Concerns, The Educational Therapist. (19).

What are the Ethics Examination procedures?

1. Successfully complete the BCET® Case Study.
2. Contact the Ethics Exam Coordinator to start the process: Anna McDonald (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
3. Submit the $100.00 exam fee to AET.
4. Make arrangements for the exam date and location with the Ethics Exam Coordinator.
5. Notify the Ethics Exam Coordinator if you believe you are eligible for testing accommodations due to a documented learning disability or because your primary language is not English.
6. Your completed Ethics Exam will be scored by a team of readers who follow a clearly specified rubric. You will be informed of the results within six weeks.

 

Exam Study Guide (PDF)

Pay Ethics Exam Fee

For specific questions not answered here, contact the AET Membership Department at 414-908-4949 x 130 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..