What’s the best English exam for psychologists?

My opinion? Forget the Cambridge Proficiency and the IELTS. This is what you need to pass to work with patients in English.

Sometimes, passing exams is a mandatory requirement when you want to work in an English-speaking country. But what about when it isn’t, and you just want to make sure your English is good enough? Which exam should you choose then?

Well, in my opinion, the best language exam is not an official exam at all. It’s the first session with an English-speaking patient.

Yes, I know that may sound strange.

But before you spend huge amounts of time, money, and energy on official exams, it’s important you know exactly what you’re getting into.

Mental health professionals who want to work in English often feel anxious and overwhelmed at first. And rightly so! It can be confusing to get started.

Of course, many psychologists want a clear, concrete plan to work through. A series of steps to follow that are proven to lead to noticeable results in a few months. But because they already have plenty of experience passing exams, they are naturally attracted to this option first. It sounds safer, and less scary than practicing with clients.

So, does passing an official exam give you a clear plan? Yes!

It takes about 9- 12 months of consistent, hard work to prepare for an official exam. During that time, your English generally improves in many different ways. For example, you learn new words and expressions, you improve your writing and reading skills and your spoken fluency and accuracy are higher. It’s motivating to watch as your past paper marks get higher and higher.  You feel like your English is getting much better. And in many ways, it is! 

So, what’s the problem? 

Well, in my opinion, exams are a feel-good trap. They might make you feel more confident, but they don’t actually prepare you to work with English-speaking patients.

Here’s why:

1. When studying for official exams, you learn lots of very advanced words that you won’t need to use in therapy. This is not only a waste of time and energy, but in my experience, it distracts students and can prevent them from learning more of the specific vocabulary and expressions they actually do need.

2. It’s the same with grammar- in these exams, you need to use many aspects of grammar accurately, some of which rarely come up in therapy sessions, like the passive voice. On the other hand, because there is so much to learn and remember, you might not practice the grammar that is useful in sessions, like narrative tenses and reported speech. 

3. To prepare for these exams, you must spend hours working on reading and writing skills, neither of which are priorities for psychologists who want to work with English-speaking clients in a private setting. For example, in the writing section of the academic IELTS, you practice skills such as describing graphs and writing essays. This is hard work that will require a lot of time and energy to do but that you’ll never end up using unless you specifically work in academia.

4. What happens after you pass the exam? Most students are exhausted after a year of intense studying, and they take a well-deserved break. But unless they actively practice their English, this break gradually gets longer and longer. Then comes the day when they realize that their English is rusty, and they’ve forgotten a lot of the grammar, vocabulary, and skills that they spent so much energy building up. Exam preparation teaches you how to pass an exam, but not what to do once you have your shiny new certificate.

So, what should you do instead?

Here’s where my program 1,2,3 Therapy can help you.

(Spoiler alert: it involves working with clients in English, but in a way that feels less scary and overwhelming).

In just 12 weeks, you can learn and practice the specific English you need to start working with international clients. Not only this, but you will learn how to continue to take ownership of your English learning after taking the course.

And the best part? You can do this individually, or in small groups (maximum three students). Your choice.

Not sure if this is for you? Book a free 60-minute consultation with me. We’ll discuss your level, needs and objectives.

Otherwise, if you want more specialized tips on how to provide therapy in English, feel free to join my free email list here.