How to Become a Somatic Therapist
You might think going to grad school and getting a master’s degree is the only way to become a mental health practitioner, but the truth isn’t so simple. Depending on the type of work you want to do with clients, you can follow a variety of different paths to build a career helping others heal.
In this article, we’ll look at the two main paths toward becoming a somatic therapist, coach, or practitioner, including the pros and cons of each. We’ll also talk about an emerging new option that combines the academic rigor of the traditional path with the creativity and freedom of the non-traditional path.
I’m Chelsea Horton, a Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist and an independent somatic coach, and I followed both paths at different times in my career. I went to grad school, got my degrees, and worked in a clinical mental health setting before founding my own independent somatic coaching business, Healing Embodied. Both paths have distinct benefits and downsides, and I want to help you fully understand your options.
Becoming a therapist: The traditional path vs. the non-traditional path
Anyone who wants to work as a mental health practitioner has two main options: the traditional clinical path and the non-traditional coaching path. Which path you follow will depend on the kind of work you want to do, what type of setting you want to work in, and the kind of clients you want to work with and where.
Generally speaking, the traditional path grants us access to formal mental health settings and credentials, while the non-traditional path allows for greater creativity and diversity in the way we practice and who we serve.
Option 1 — Master’s degree and clinical training
This is the path most people think of when they imagine becoming a therapist or counselor.
Here are the basic steps you’ll follow if you take the traditional path to becoming a therapist:
Get a bachelor’s degree in psychology, counseling, or a related field
Get a master’s degree in psychology, clinical psychology, marriage and family therapy, clinical social work, or a related mental health field
Complete several thousand hours of supervised clinical work
Take and pass an exam
Pursue licensure in your state
This path is best for people who want to work in clinical or institutional settings and who are okay with limiting their practice to one region, as licensed therapists can typically only provide services in one state at a time. If your end goal is to become a licensed therapist, you will need to follow this path.
As a licensed therapist, you can work in settings like psychiatric hospitals, inpatient facilities, and crisis centers, as well as private therapy practices.
Following the traditional path also allows you to work within the framework of diagnostics via the Diagnostics and Statistical Manual, also known as the DSM-5. If you want to be able to diagnose clients with established mental health conditions, you will need to pursue a master’s degree. To prescribe psychiatric medications, you would also need to get a PhD in psychiatry.
In short, if you want to work in a clinical mental health setting, you will need to pursue formal qualifications as a mental health professional by pursuing a master’s degree and professional license.
However, many people find that the end goals of the traditional path don’t align with the goals and visions they have for their career as a somatic practitioner. For example, the dominant psychiatric paradigm leans heavily on rigid diagnostics, conditions, and medications and can overlook more holistic perspectives on mental health and well-being. Traditional mental health education also tends to measure skill and efficacy using standardized tests and requirements that can fail to meaningfully assess how effective a therapist is at facilitating healing and transformation for their clients.
If you want to work with people in a therapeutic capacity without having to follow a rigid path dictated by a paradigm you don’t feel aligned with, keep reading to learn more about your other options (because they exist!).
Pros of the traditional path:
Allows you to become licensed as a therapist, counselor, clinical mental health practitioner, or psychiatric doctor
Allows you to work in clinical and/or formal mental health settings
Allows you to work with insurance companies and take on clients who can’t pay out of pocket
Allows you to formally diagnose mental health conditions according to the DSM-5
If you get a PhD in psychiatry, you can also prescribe psychiatric medications
Cons of the traditional path:
6+ years of formal education required
Big financial investment
You can only practice in the state where you’re licensed
The dominant psychiatric paradigm relies heavily on pathologization and medication
Therapists who accept insurance are required to diagnose clients
Skill and efficacy is measured through standardized tests and rigid requirements
Option 2 — Get a mental health coaching certification
Those who want to work in the mental health field in a more creative, innovative, or unconventional way can pursue certification through a wide variety of mental health coaching certification programs. These programs vary in length, offer different types of certificates, and most are conducted online. (I have a lot to say about the way most practitioner training programs are structured, but let’s look at the pros first.)
The non-traditional path to becoming a somatic mental health practitioner offers far more freedom, flexibility, and possibility than the traditional path. Coaches are not limited to clinical environments, and they have a lot more say over how they use their certifications and skills. You don’t have to use the DSM-5 if you don’t find it helpful, and you don’t have to rely on the conventional psychological paradigm.
Coaches and somatic practitioners don’t have to fit into the rigid boxes of what modern psychology requires us to be. We get to work outside the clinical mental health industry, which tends to facilitate burnout. Instead, we can structure our businesses and client work in a way that supports our actual needs, boundaries, limitations, goals, and dreams, and we can build independent businesses with international reach.
Mental health and somatic practitioner training programs are ideal for people who want to practice outside the dominant psychiatric paradigm, build independent businesses, and structure their work in a way that supports the lives they want. The services we offer can be much more creative, holistic, and tailored to individual client needs, and the work we do can support us as practitioners rather than leading us into cycles of burnout.
To become a certified mental health coach, you do not need a master’s degree or a license, but this doesn’t mean education and effective training are any less important.
Most coach training programs simply require students to register, pay tuition, complete the program, and get their certificate. After that, graduates can begin offering services. As you can imagine, this creates a whole host of problems with program efficacy and ethics, which we’ll talk about next.
The problem with the mental health coaching certification industry
I’ve spent five years in the mental health coaching industry, and I’ve seen many practitioner training programs that offer inadequate curriculum with zero supervision by teachers and facilitators. In fact, most mental health coach training programs lack the robustness and efficacy needed to prepare students to safely and confidently offer mental health coaching services to clients, and this is a huge problem.
Unlike the clinical path, which requires students to complete thousands of hours of supervised training, the coaching certification path often completely leaves out the practical, hands-on element of learning, which is essential.
The main issue with this path is that it’s hard to find a credible certification program. Most are flimsy and, frankly, unethical. Most of these programs run for three to six months, compared to the two years of education you get from a master’s program. As a somatic practitioner with a clinical background and formal education, I feel strongly that a few months is not enough time to effectively train a practitioner to work with clients.
Most coaching certification programs I see are more focused on making money, packing the programs full of students rather than actually making sure the training is high quality.
Most coaching programs lack hands-on training and supervision, which means facilitators aren’t making sure the students are effectively practicing the skills they’re learning (yikes).
Programs that claim to train coaches and therapists without an element of supervision and hands-on review cannot guarantee that the students who graduate are prepared to practice in an ethical and effective way.
Because most practitioner training programs fall short, I decided to design my own program that fills in the gaps and offers what aspiring somatic coaches need and deserve — robust curriculum, supervision, and dedicated, hands-on facilitators.
The Healing Embodied Practitioner Training Program
A new way to become a somatic coach without sacrificing quality and efficacy
After experiencing the rigid limitations of the traditional clinical path and the severe lack of rigor and supervision of the non-traditional path, I decided to found the Healing Embodied Practitioner Training Program.
This program is the first of its kind, offering 12 full months of in-depth curriculum, one-on-one supervision with facilitators, and hands-on training opportunities. Our program is also fully accredited through the Complementary Therapists Accreditation Association, and graduates are Certified Healing Embodied Practitioners (C-HEP).
I designed this program alongside my co-founder and co-facilitator, Sarah Rot, who is also a Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. Together, Sarah and I have created an accredited somatic practitioner training program that bridges the gap between the traditional therapy education path and the often inadequate non-traditional path.
If you long to build a career that lets you facilitate transformational healing work for your clients while also letting you express your full, authentic, creative self, the Healing Embodied Practitioner Training Program is for you.
If you know you’re destined to help others heal, but you don’t want to be forced to pathologize your clients in the process, the Healing Embodied Practitioner Training Program is for you.
If you’re already working or training as a therapist and you’re longing for an education that feels more holistic, embodied, hands-on, and full of possibility, the Healing Embodied Practitioner Training Program is for you.
You can learn more, including details about tuition and our 12-month curriculum, on our program page or by scheduling a free career vision call with one of our facilitators.
If you’re ready to dive in, you can submit an application here. To learn more about our approach to creating a sustainable career without sacrificing your wellbeing, get our free training, How to Not Burn Out as a Therapist.
We can’t wait to meet you!