Training in Psychoanalysis: Progression

▪ Admission   ▪ Course of Study   ▪ Child and Adolescent Division  ▪ Tuition and Fees  
▪ Application and Transfers  ▪ Candidates   ▪ Mentorship Program  ▪ Faculty

Overview of Progression

 

Readiness to undertake course work is determined either at the time of admission or following matriculation interviews.  The Education Committee determines the overall progress of each Candidate's academic and supervised clinical work on the basis of semiannual written appraisals prepared by teachers and supervisors.  Supervisors will discuss their reports with their Supervisees and provide a written copy of the report on request by the Candidate.  The Faculty Advisor reviews progress with the Candidate at least twice annually.  A record of individual progress is kept on file in the Institute office, and copies are available upon request by the Candidate.

 

To ensure the optimal coordination of clinical and theoretical training, Candidates are required to have at least one supervised case in analysis by the end of the first academic year of Level 2 in order to begin the next year of Level 2 classes.

 

Level 3 Candidates who have demonstrated clinical competence in psychoanalysis are promoted to Advanced Status.  With the written approval of the Education Committee, Advanced Candidates who have had three cases well along in supervision may take on additional cases without supervision.

 

Graduation from the Institute is based on the Candidate's demonstrated capacity for autonomous analytic work, completion of the basic four-Level curriculum in the Adult Division, and attainment of Advanced Status.

Training Analysis

 

Candidates may select any Training Analyst from the currently approved list of Training and Supervising Analysts, and the training analysis is expected to be well underway before the start of classes. Training analyses are conducted at a frequency of four times per week at the minimum and are expected to continue well into the period of supervision of clinical work through Level 3. If the training analysis ends prior to the completion of training and personality factors subsequently interfere with the Candidate’s ability to analyze patients, resumption of the training analysis may be required.

 

A training analysis is the personal analysis that occurs during candidacy.  It aims to help the Candidate achieve a high degree of character stability, open-mindedness, flexibility, and maturity.  It is essential that the Candidate develop the capacities for self-observation, self-reflection, and, ultimately self-analysis in order to maintain a consistent psychoanalytic stance.  Personal psychoanalysis also provides the necessary searching experience into the depths of one's own psychological functioning.  Together with cases and course work, personal psychoanalysis provides an essential base from which to derive conviction about the effectiveness of psychoanalysis.

 

Candidates may select any Training Analyst from the currently approved list of Training and Supervising Analysts, and the training analysis is expected to be well underway before the start of classes. Training analyses are conducted at a frequency of four times per week at the minimum and are expected to continue well into the period of supervision of clinical work through Level 3. If the training analysis ends prior to the completion of training and personality factors subsequently interfere with the Candidate’s ability to analyze patients, resumption of the training analysis may be required.

 

Course Work

 

The curriculum consists of seminars in which participants explore and discuss the theory and practice of psychoanalysis.  Candidates participate in the clinical seminars (Clinical Conferences, Continuing Case Seminars and Visiting Analyst Seminars) until graduation.  The course of study is outlined in detail, and the individual courses described here.

Supervised Clinical Work

To enhance the analytic learning experience, Candidates must select a Supervisor and begin supervised clinical work concurrent with the start of the first year of classes. Meetings for clinical supervision should be arranged on a regular basis. After consultation with his/her Advisor, a Candidate may seek permission to begin a first analytic case at any time during the first year of classes by writing a letter of request to the Education Committee. Permission to begin subsequent analytic cases must also be requested in writing following consultation with the Advisor. Candidates must be licensed to practice and have appropriate malpractice insurance before requesting permission to begin a first analytic case.

 

Supervised analytic cases are seen four to five times weekly. The Candidate selects a Supervising Analyst and makes arrangements for weekly supervision. The Candidate is free to change a supervisor at any time after discussion with the Faculty Advisor.

 

Candidates must treat a minimum of three patients, including at least one case of each gender. Cases must show development of a psychoanalytic process. Candidates are encouraged to have as many concurrent cases as possible and to work with three or more Supervising Analysts. For Candidates enrolled in the Child and Adolescent Division, the supervised psychoanalytic treatment of one child or adolescent may count toward the three-case requirement.

 

Graduation Requirements

 

Graduation is based on the following criteria:

 

Satisfactory completion of the four-year curriculum, including:

 

▪ regular attendance at classes

▪ conscientious preparation of assignments

▪ thoughtful and active participation in class discussion

▪ attainment of Advanced Status

 

 

Candidates must demonstrate competence in psychoanalysis with at least three cases, representing both genders, conducted at least four times per week, with weekly supervision for each case. Competence in psychoanalysis includes the capacity to:

 

▪ assess the patient, make an effective recommendation for analysis, and work with patient's resistance

   to entering into analytic treatment;

▪ work analytically with various and intense transference reactions;

▪ understand the function and complexity of the patient's psychological difficulties;

▪ work with the intensity of affect in the analysand in all phases of analysis;

▪ observe and understand one's own reactions and countertransference to the patient and how to use

   them as sources of information about the analytic situation;

▪ understand the impact of one's interventions on the process and course of the analysis;

▪ make psychodynamic formulations at all stages of the work, including conscious and unconscious

   dynamic themes which organize the patient's psychic life;

▪ recognize and empathically work with intrapsychic conflict;

▪ clearly communicate to colleagues in written and oral form the patient's experiences and participation

   in the analytic process, the analyst's responses, vicissitudes of the analytic process, and evidence of

   change in the patient;

▪ when the analysis ends, understand the nature of that ending.

 

While it is preferable to demonstrate an ability to bring a case to termination, Candidates may be considered for graduation without accomplishing an analytic ending, if their capacities to conduct an analysis as described above have been demonstrated with several patients.

Leave of Absence

 

Candidates may elect to request a leave of absence which shall not exceed two years.  Request for leave of absence and for subsequent return to active candidacy shall be made in writing to the Education Committee.

Remediation, Probation and Dismissal

 

The Institute reserves the right to dismiss a Candidate for reasons of deficiencies in ethics, conduct, personal or professional maturity, or psychoanalytic knowledge or skill. Where less than satisfactory progress is noted, and remediation is considered possible, a program to remedy the identified difficulties will be developed by the Education Committee and will be conveyed to the Candidate by his or her Faculty Advisor.  During the period of remediation, the Candidate may be placed on probation, which, at a minimum shall be six months.  During the remediation period, the Candidate’s progress is closely monitored by the Candidate’s Faculty Advisor, supervisors, teachers, and the Education Committee. At the conclusion of the remediation period, the Candidate may be returned to regular status in the Institute. It is also possible for the Candidate to be dismissed at the end of a period of remediation.  A leave of absence also may be recommended if it is judged that such a leave would be likely to be corrective. Decisions about dismissal are made exclusively by the Institute and are final.