PERSONAL STATEMENT-Cristina sterie- Running for certification coordinator

Dear ISST members, after having the honor and privilege of serving as the Certification Coordinator in the past 2 years, I decided to run again for a second tenure in the same position. When I first got this position, I was told by my predecessor and other colleagues who have served the EB in the past, that the first tenure is always a challenge and takes time to understand the functioning of the EB and my role. This was true and I am grateful to my colleagues in the EB and my predecessors for a lot of new learnings and opportunities to grow. 

One of the biggest challenges of the role of Certification Coordinator is to handle and harmonize the particularities of country regulation in psychotherapy licensing to the standards of the ISST, in a way that would preserve the quality of the ISST training and supervision process and also allow people from different parts of the world to become acquainted with the model and have the chance to become proficient in using it and spreading it to their own countries. I believe that my interpersonal and organizational skills have allowed for these improvements and changes to occur quickly and proficiently. I have consistently made time and prioritized these initiatives to allow for quality assurance and will continue to do so. 

I worked closely with Rita Younan, the Training Coordinator and also with the National Coordinators, in order to find ways to adapt country regulation for psychotherapeutic licensing and include them in ISST certification standards and policies. As a result we have achieved our goals in spreading the model in new countries and certifying people who would serve as ST promotors in their countries and region and will continue to work on this if I am re-elected.  

We moved forward to implementing the new policy for National Training Directors Committee  which was initiated by the previous EB and we offered counseling and assistance with the implementation of the new policy. I also initiated consultations with the National Coordinators that I intend to continue in order to better address their needs for clarification regarding certification issues that are unique to their countries. Moving forward I am also working with the Training Coordinator and Media Coordinator in using the website to assist with the certification process, where people will be  able to store their documents with CPD, as proof of their continuous education in ST.  I created a new policy for the National Coordinators to better help them in the analysis and deliberation regarding certification process and I worked closely with the Media Coordinator and the administrative team to implement a new digital solution for certification which will be included in the new website. 

I also continued the work of my predecessor and formalized the use if the ISST certification email to  ensure there is a paper trail for certification and all material is stored securely and confidentially and allows for  traceability  for future EB members in this position. I will continue to make efforts in order to have clear guidelines for the certification process, communicate these guidelines in a clear and intuitive manner, and make them easy to access and follow for the people who are interested in certification. 

I also implemented and intend to overview and facilitate the certification process for people coming from countries with either no regulation standards or imprecise regulation standards regarding clinical practice or psychotherapy certification. Furthermore,  I will work with national representatives in order to find solutions for delivering the ST model to them and establish ways  to  certify  people in the countries that  will allow for high  levels of skills and mastery in practicing and teaching ST and ensuring good clinical practice and protecting those that seek schema therapy in the general public.

I will continue to support the RCMC in their training and certification effort to our members in crisis. I am also planning to hold a strong position in defending the democratic principles and  values of ST society and contribute to enhancing the international collaboration regarding psychotherapy practice and research through continuing the dialogue with colleagues from around the world and facilitating communication between interested parties. 

I will also continue to represent the membership with questions regarding certification and will do my best to address and find solutions to the complexities of the certification process as quickly and efficiently as possible.