The Title of Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher – NCPT is Awarded to those Certified in Pilates

How do I get certified? This answer is the same whether you're a physical therapist or not. Well, I'm a physical therapist, do I need to get certified in Pilates? And will I be certified after I take your courses that you offer?

The way things work with any Pilates certification is that you've taken a third-party standardized test. The third-party standardized tests used to be through the Pilates method Alliance, but it recently shifted. I have this name written here, the National Pilates certification program. 

So, for you to get certified in Pilates, is a through a group— the Pilates Method Alliance is still involved— but your certification is called the National Pilates certification program. If you over the www.PilatesMethodAlliance.org website and hit certification, it'll take you to another website, which is www.NationalPilatesCertificationProgram.org.

So, what it says here is: “The purpose of the NPCP is to establish, maintain and promote professional standards, and to award the title of Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT) to the comprehensively educated Pilates teacher who has provided evidence that they meet these established professional standards.

For the public, employers, government agencies, and other professionals in allied fields, the NCPT credential provides assurance that the Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher is competent in the provision of services.”

With that said the PMA which is now the NCPT is basically the only certification in Pilates right now. You can get a teacher and get trained in many places. But to actually get certified— whether you're a PT or not to be certified in Pilates— no matter what anyone is telling you, you have to get it through the National Pilates certification program. 

Now, here is their eligibility requirements:

Comprehensive training must be minimally 450 hours in length and cover mat and the following apparatuses:

• Reformer
• Trapeze Table
• Wunda Chair
• Ladder Barrel
• Spine Corrector
• Magic Circle

After this, you can take this comprehensive test. This test is like the board, you can get your education anywhere in Pilates, but to actually get certified, you have to take this credentialed third-party test.

Some people say, “Well, if I'm a PT, do I need to do that?” Absolutely. If you want to just teach Pilates, your PT sessions are for 10-15 minutes and you're not really going to dive into it, then you don't necessarily need to get certified.

But if you want to teach Pilates, going out into the community, teaching it to a class and at your facility, then you need to go through the steps to get certified. You complete a teacher training program, then you take that exam. 

So, then people ask me, “Well, what about your educational courses? Or your online courses? Do they meet the requirements for that?” Basically, our whole entire teacher training program has been designed to get people ready to take the PMA exam.

We use balanced body manuals; we teach them through those that work because that's what we originally studied with. And then we prepare people to take the exam. 

When someone takes our mat certification, or our mat teacher training, once they have completed our teacher training, then they can sit for the PMA. 

What are the steps to get certified? With all the many online options, you're actually completing a teacher training program and not getting certified. In order to get certified, go sit to take the test— those tests used to be all like going to a testing center but you can now do that online from your home or office.