The free CPD log
for Irish psychotherapists

A CPD log is the running record of your continuing professional development: what you did, when you did it, how many hours it took, which category it falls under, and the evidence that it happened. It is the document your professional body asks for when you reaccredit, and the one you have to produce at short notice if you are selected for audit.

Most therapists keep one in a spreadsheet, a notebook, or a folder of certificates in a drawer. That works until the year you are audited and have to reconstruct twelve months of workshops, supervision and reading from memory — or until the certificate for the course that made up a third of your hours turns out to be missing.

Whatever you keep it in, a CPD log needs to show the same things for every entry:

• Date — when the activity took place
• Title and provider — what it was, and who ran it
• Category — how your association classifies it
• Hours — counted the way your association counts them
• Reflection — what you took from it and how it changed your practice
• Evidence — the certificate, receipt or attendance record

The reflection is the part people skip and the part assessors read first. A line on what changed in your work is worth more than a longer description of the course content.