A speech therapist is a person who is involved in the process of making sure that the person who is suffering from language disorder or speech problems is able to overcome these problems. The speech therapists are also commonly called as speech language pathologists. The reason for this is that they are very instrumental in correcting various speech problems in the speech of any affected individual.

There are many people who have various kinds of problems in the brain that can lead to speech problem. Some kids may have congenital problems that can also affect the speech. The therapist needs to retrain the person to be able to speak well. Though the job is a well paid one, the job itself may be frustrating for some people because of the slow progression of the affected people. It is very important that the treatment is very effective.

There are various steps that are involved in the process of becoming a speech therapist and they are listed here.

1. Education:

This is the primary thing that is needed. Any person who needs to become a part of this profession needs to have adequate education for this. The person needs to complete an undergraduate degree course in this subject. The person can also go on to complete a Master's degree in the same subject. This involves the study of various subjects like Physiology, Anatomy and also speech pathologies and correction methods. Psychology also plays an important role in the education because the patients have to be talked to make them understand the need for the treatment.

2. Certification:

Once the education is over, the person also has to have a certification that he or she is a registered speech language pathologist. This is done after a period in which the individual has to work as an intern with some other people. The internship program is for a period of wither 6 months or it could also be for one whole year in some places. Once the clinical training as an intern is over, the individual has to get the certification.

3. Exam:

The certification and the licensing exam is a onetime exam and that has to be cleared for the person to practice as a therapist who is involved in the treatment of the patient who has language problems. This exam covers the various aspects of the course and then also on the various methods of dealing with the patient. Once the person is able to clear the exam, the license to practice as a speech language pathologist is given to the person.

4. Work:

The usual work of a speech therapist is in a hospital setting. This is the place where there are a lot of patients with various pathologies that can cause deficits in the speech. The therapist needs to train the patient in various methods to help them to be able to verbally communicate with other people. These days, the speech therapists are also involved in treating people in other places like autism schools and also in schools with children with special needs.

The speech language therapist job is very rewarding because the affected people are able to be treated and cured. This gives a job satisfaction that causes the person to work more and more for the betterment of the patient.

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