Curriculum
2007-2008 Training Program Catalog (PDF file)
The Training Catalog 2008-2009 will be available in early August.
Click here for Child & Adolescent Seminars.
This curriculum is the product of on-going work by the entire faculty and candidate groups as well as several working committees.
We have developed a curriculum that is organized around the principle of critical thinking which begins with Freud’s foundations of psychoanalytic thinking and then builds on that foundation to contemporary thinking about the central concepts of psychoanalysis.
The curriculum takes account of the growing theoretical and clinical diversity of our own Institute, American psychoanalysis and the influence of our increasingly connected international community.
The core curriculum is arranged into four tracks:Theory, Clinical, Development, and Psychoanalytic Studies.
Through a coherent focus on an integrated and clinically relevant program of seminars we have emphasized the basic concepts of psychoanalysis in the first year, with subsequent years broadening to include other branches in the development of current psychoanalytic thinking.
In addition, the second, third and fourth years allow for more choices through the addition of an elective seminar in each year.
In the elective seminar, candidates may choose their preference from several courses, thereby providing an opportunity for more in depth study of various aspects of theory, technique, and applied psychoanalysis.
These selections will change from year to year, providing for the greatest range of choice.
The seminar year includes a week in the Fall of intensive seminars with a Visiting Professor, and three weeks in the Spring of an Intersession in which a topic in applied psychoanalysis is studied with experts in that field invited to present their work.
In the fifth year, candidates will participate in a preceptorship seminar on psychoanalytic writing, and each candidate will write a psychoanalytic paper for completion of that course and for graduation.
Theory Track
FIRST YEAR
- Orientation of Theory
- Topographical Model
- Freud's Papers on Metapsychology
- Structural Model + Freud's Later Writings
- The Emergence of Object Relations Theory
SECOND YEAR
- Contemporary Freudian Theory
- Melanie Klein's Contributions to Psychoanalytic Theory
- Object Relations Theories of the British Middle School
- Bion
- An Introduction to Reading French Psychoanalytic Texts
THIRD YEAR
- American Relational Theory
- Contemporary Object Relations
Clinical Track
FIRST YEAR
- Theory of Technique: Introduction to Theory of Therapeutic Action
- Considering Analysis and Assessment
- Some Character Types Met with in Psychoanalytic Work
- Elements of Analytic Process
- Working with Dreams
- First Year Clinical Conference
SECOND YEAR
- Clinical Formulation: Writing as a Means of Thinking
- Technical Approaches in Psychoanalysis
- Continuous Case Conference: Child and Adult / Adult
THIRD YEAR
- Severe Disorders: An Object Relations Perspective
- Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Trauma
- Continuous Case Conference: Child and Adult / Adult
Development Track
FIRST YEAR
- The Developing Mind: A Study in Infant Observation
- The Developing Mind: Infancy and Early Childhood
- The Developing Mind: Toddlerhood
- The Developing Mind: Oedipal
- The Developing Mind: Middle Childhood
SECOND YEAR
- The Developing Mind: Adolescence
- The Developing Mind: Adulthood
- Clinical Use of Developmental Perspectives
THIRD YEAR
- The Imagined Meanings of Gender
- Psychosexualities & Object Choice
Psychoanalytic Studies
FIRST YEAR
SECOND YEAR
THIRD YEAR
- Interdisciplinary Studies in the Theory of Mind: Clinical and Theoretical Perspectives
- Premonitions of a Paper
- Psychoanalytic Writing
- Intersession
- Electives
FIFTH YEAR
- Preceptorship Seminar - seminar and paper
Electives
Electives are seminars that present subjects of special interest not otherwise offered in the core curriculum.
Candidates in the second, third, and fourth seminar year are required to take one Elective seminar per year.
In the 2007-2008 academic year, there will be four Elective classes offered during the Elective block (Jan. 4 to Feb. 29).
Candidates in the fourth year, followed by those in the second and third years, will have priority in choosing which Elective class they take.
Post-seminar candidates as well as faculty may also request assignment to an Elective, or give preferences regarding Electives they would like to take.
Class size will be limited.
Any particular Elective may or may not be given for more than one year, depending on the availability of the instructor and the interest of the candidates.
Electives
8 sessions
Friday 8:00 – 9:45 a.m.
January 4 – February 29, 2008
• Group Dynamics
• Joyce
• Latin American Psychoanalysis
• The Art of Psychoanalytic Listening: The Unconscious Language of Transference, Countertransference, and Reverie
Preceptorship Seminar
The seminar serves as a writing group for the discussion of individual papers, and of issues relating to writing for psychoanalytic journals. Candidates will be helped to prepare and present a draft of a paper, and to read and discuss (each other’s) papers from the perspective of an editorial board.
It is helpful to begin thinking about the paper early in the training.
A two-session seminar in the 4th year will provide an opportunity to discuss possible topics and become acquainted with the various formats of psychoanalytic papers.
Candidates are encouraged to seek individual consultation on their papers early on from faculty members or other analytic writers.
The seminar leader can help with suggestions for consultants.
The seminar focuses on developing the ability to write about psychoanalytic concepts and process.
The paper should not be merely a case report or a literature review.
It should address a topic that is alive to the candidate and contributes to the wide range of psychoanalytic dialogue including theoretical issues, clinical phenomena, or applications of psychoanalytic ideas to other fields such as literature, film, art, or music.
The seminar leader will determine when the paper has met the standard for graduation.
Candidates are often encouraged to make revisions to meet the seminar expectations.
Candidates aiming to graduate in the same year as the seminar are asked to have a draft completed by February 15, 2008 and obtain final approval of the seminar leader by April 15, 2008.
Candidates who, for some reason, are not planning to take the seminar in the 5th year should notify the office in early September 2007.
A candidate with extensive psychoanalytic writing and publication experience can apply for a waiver.
The candidate will still be asked, however, to present a recent work or work in progress at the seminar and to be a discussant.
Even if a candidate is a well-experienced writer, it is recommended that he or she would take this opportunity to generate new work and make a contribution to colleagues by being part of the writing group.
Child & Adolescent Seminars
The child and adolescent analysis training program is partially integrated into the general adult curriculum.
All analytic candidates take courses in the Development Track of the general curriculum for two years.
In addition child analytic candidates take three years of didactic child courses and three additional years of child case conferences.
A child-adult case conference taken during the general curriculum contributes to the child case conference requirement.
Child Colloquia offer supplemental enriching educational experiences.
The child didactic courses can be started as early as the second year of adult training.
