Professional Credentialing: What’s in a Name?
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How to make sense of different credentials
Professional credentialing is important in the growing field of therapeutic horticulture and horticultural therapy, but it’s easy to get confused by all the different program names, titles, and credentials that are offered. Let’s take a few minutes to unpack the language of professional credentialing, so that you can speak knowledgeably about what you’ve earned, or make an informed decision on what credential you’d like to pursue. The following definitions are adapted from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, which is the nationally accepted source for standardization of these definitions for occupations in the United States of America.
Professional credentials include training time required as a condition of hiring, which often results in certifications, licenses, or educational certificates and are part of the education, training, and experience requirements needed to obtain and keep a job. Those credentials include:
- Certifications which are issued by a certification body, industry association, or professional association and acknowledge that occupationally specific skills and abilities exist. Certifications expire if not renewed.
- Educational certificates which are issued by an educational institution (or a training provider) and certify that an occupation specific program of study was completed. Educational certificates typically do not expire.
- Licenses which are issued by a government agency and constitute a legal authority to perform a specific occupation. Similar to a certification, a license expires if not renewed. For most of the allied health professions, licensure also involves an exam and continuing education credits during a specified period of time.
As of October 2024, HT and TH do not currently have an official certification process associated with the profession in the United States. The American Horticultural Therapy Association instead offers a two-tiered professional registration credential.
- For Horticultural Therapists, the Horticultural Therapist- Registered HTR credential requires AHTA membership along with an application demonstrating that the applicant has earned an undergraduate degree, successfully completed specific coursework in human and horticultural sciences, successfully completed horticultural therapy coursework, and completed a 480-hour internship/work experience with HT supervision.
- For Therapeutic Horticulturists, the Therapeutic Horticulture Practitioner THP credential requires AHTA membership along with an application demonstrating that the applicant has successfully completed therapeutic horticulture coursework and has worked for at least 500 hours as a TH.
Please note that these are very general descriptions of AHTA’s professional registration requirements: if you are interested in details, please visit their linked pages to learn the specifics.
AHTA is in the planning stages of developing a national exam that could lead to professional licensure opportunities, but there is no current national exam for this profession that leads to licensure. Therefore, there are no licensed TH/HTs in the United States.
What does this all mean?
Professional registration is an option for those practitioners who want the credential in order to be competitive for specific jobs, to demonstrate subject matter knowledge to potential employers or funders, or for their own professional development. It is not required to have AHTA credentialing in order to practice HT/TH, but as practitioners, it is strongly recommended to hold at least a certificate to verify that you have the knowledge base needed to successfully participate in the practice. Those who have earned the HTR or THP can use the credentialing letters after their name in the professional arena, but there is no accepted convention for using any other version of post-nominal letters in our profession: for example, we would not use TH, HT or similar after our names, even if we hold a certificate.
What can I call myself?
If you have earned a certificate in Therapeutic Horticulture or Horticultural Therapy, you can be proud of that accomplishment and list on a resume or application that you hold or have earned a Certificate of Therapeutic Horticulture (or HT) from the institution(s) you studied with.
It is not correct, however, to state that you have licensure or certification, because your earned certificate does not expire! Remember that licenses and certifications come from a professional association and can expire: the professional registrations from AHTA are the most closely aligned with this definition, because they require annual membership renewal, and could be revoked by AHTA if a practitioner does not meet certain standards of practice.
Our professional standards at this time allow us to state that we hold a certificate and/or are professionally registered with AHTA. Both of these standards indicate that we have an understanding of our professional body of knowledge. We do not state that we are licensed or certified, because those credentials are not issued by any recognized organization at this time.
Because our profession draws on so many different areas of knowledge and attracts practitioners from across the spectrum of work, your background in any other area of the human sciences, horticulture, business, the arts, and beyond, paired with coursework in TH/HT, constitutes an excellent platform for building your professional life in this field. Maintaining the standards of our professional credentialing helps others outside the field recognize us as professionals, ready to contribute to the world of people-plant connection and well-being.