The Training Program

A detailed description of the training may be accessed by clicking this link: Training Details

Becoming a psychoanalyst is a complex and rigorous undertaking involving the following components:

Personal Analysis

An important requisite for psychoanalytic training is the candidate’s own personal psychoanalysis. It provides the candidate with in-depth, direct personal experience in the psychoanalytic treatment process. NPAP requirements for Personal Analysis are defined in the Training Details section.

Curriculum

A detailed description of the training may be accessed by clicking here.

  • Enrollment
  • Matriculation
  • Readiness-for-Control

The curriculum consists of required (designated by the prefix R) and elective (designated by the prefix E) courses, offering a thorough grounding in traditional and contemporary psychoanalytic concepts and practice, including but not limited to classical psychoanalysis, ego psychology, object relations, Kleinian theory, self psychology, Lacanian theory, and the relational school. Any or all of these perspectives may serve as the foundation for the candidate’s own approach to clinical practice. Electives and optional independent study provide opportunities for specialized work in areas of the candidate’s own choosing. All courses emphasize the integration of theory and treatment technique.

After each level’s requirements have been completed, candidates advance to the next level upon the recommendation of evaluation committees, which meet personally with individual candidates.

Clinical Experience

Candidates must acquire experience in treating patients in individual psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, under the personal supervision of NPAP members.

All candidates preparing to apply for the New York State License in Psychoanalysis must see patients in affiliation with NPAP’s Theodor Reik Clinical Center for Psychotherapy (TRCC). TRCC provides the candidates with patient referrals, office space, administrative services and clinical supervision. The candidate chooses the clinical supervisor who is a current qualified member of the NPAP Training Institute by mutual agreement between the candidate and supervisor.

Presently licensed candidates who are not seeking the License in Psychoanalysis may meet NPAP’s clinical experience requirements by conducting individual therapy with private patients in their own offices. They must obtain supervision from qualified members of the NPAP Training Institute. Such candidates have the option of affiliating with TRCC to receive patient referrals.

All candidates, whether presently licensed or not, can qualify to begin meeting the clinical practice requirements of NPAP training in one of two ways: completing all requirements of the Enrollment level and passing the examination for the Matriculation level, or passing a “Readiness for Clinical Practice” (RCP) evaluation after completing a specified portion of the Enrollment level. For clarification of additional requirements, please see the Training Details section.

Certificate of Completion of New York State Requirements

Candidates pursuing the New York State License in Psychoanalysis may choose to apply for a Certificate of Completion of NPAP’s New York State License Qualifying Program in Psychoanalysis at any time after completing certain required courses, 450 hours of 3 time-per-week Personal Analysis, and a stated minimum number of hours of clinical practice under supervision. This certificate is not equivalent to graduation from NPAP’s training program. (For clarification of specific requirements for this certificate, please see Training Details.)

Control Analysis

The practice of psychoanalysis under intensive supervision is called Control Analysis, and the supervisor is called a Control Supervisor. During the Readiness-for-Control level of training, the candidate is required to see two different patients in Control Analysis, at a frequency of three or more times a week. One patient must be seen for approximately one year (with at least 50 supervisory sessions), the other for approximately two years (with at least 100 supervisory sessions). The two control analyses may run concurrently. The candidate selects a different supervisor for each case and meets weekly with the supervisor to focus in depth on the course of each analysis.

Completion of NPAP Training

Graduation from the NPAP training program in psychoanalysis is based on the recommendation of an evaluation committee, which reviews the candidate’s academic record and hears a Final Case Presentation by the candidate.

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National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis

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