About Us

Welcome from the Directors and WCSPP’s
Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

Welcome to the WCSPP website! We invite you to explore our exciting and varied  post-graduate training programs, as well as the relevant and broad range of academic events we offer students past and present. Now, increasingly, we are offering our training and programming to a wider community of mental health practitioners working in clinic, agency and educational settings. Our institute, founded and chartered by the New York State Board of Regents in 1974 as a psychotherapy and psychoanalytic educational center, trains New York and Connecticut social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health counselors and others who seek to deepen their understanding of the workings of the human mind, of development and behavior. In addition to our training in adult psychoanalysis, we offer specialty programs in child and adolescent and parent psychotherapy, as well as couples therapy training and a year-long program in supervisory training. We are a warm and inviting community of open-minded clinicians. Many of us, who pursued further post-graduate education at WCSPP, form deep friendships as we become colleagues and eventually circle back to teach, supervise or volunteer at a place that has become more than simply our scholarly home. Consider sampling our academic events—conferences, Scientific Meetings, Psychoanalysis in Action presentations and film discussions–or diving deeper into our short- or longer-term trainings and discover how widely applicable and relevant psychoanalytic thinking is to current culture and mental health practice.

WCSPP’s Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

In our training and in our governing, we at WCSPP are steadfast in our commitment to the psychoanalytic and humanistic principles of self-examination and accountability, core values in the creation of a more diverse and inclusive community that challenges prejudice and discrimination in all its forms. Particularly at this moment when social and racial upheaval roils our country and much of the world, WCSPP challenges itself to continually address the range and relevance of what we teach, our awareness of the cultural and historic context that shapes us as well as those with whom we work, and the diversification of our Institute.

Several recent efforts, in addition to those of our Diversity Initiative created in 2014, reflect our implementation of the foregoing goals:

  • educational content that directly speaks to local community need
  • increased attention to financial aid and scholarship awards 
  • promotion of recent graduates to leadership training positions
  • curriculum examination
  • broadened exposure to culturally-centered psychoanalytic scholarship
  • a new class for mental health supervisors working in area clinics and hospital settings to teach the applicability of psychoanalytic principles to work in those settings.

With the knowledge that we are a work in progress, our ongoing aim is to foster deep psychoanalytic learning that builds upon authentic self-examination and openness to correction at every turn.

Janet Shimer, LCSW, MBA, and
Sylvia Steinert, LCSW
Executive Directors

 

History and Mission

The Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (WCSPP) was the brainchild of a small group of psychoanalysts who valued pluralistic psychoanalytic training and the cultivation of a close and engaged learning community. We are deeply committed to rigorous academic training and open discussion of multiple psychoanalytic perspectives. The vision of our founders continues to inspire WCSPP today as we evolve and adapt to an ever-changing mental health landscape. The Institute has developed new programs, moved nimbly to modify existing ones to meet student needs and has expanded its Psychotherapy Service to best serve individuals seeking psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. WCSPP prides itself on providing low-cost accessible psychotherapeutic treatment to the community. Our Psychotherapy Center gives our candidates the opportunity to develop their treatment skills under the supervision and in consultation with our experienced faculty.

We believe that education in psychoanalytic techniques grounded in a wide range of theories provides the best foundational training for candidates. Our training encompasses the study of contemporary Freudian theory, interpersonal theory, relational theory, attachment theory and self-psychology.

We seek talented faculty and students who will constitute a vibrant community that draws on the strength that comes with a substantive institutional commitment to diversity along dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, veteran status, interests, perspectives and socioeconomic status. Grounded in equal opportunity and nondiscrimination, WCSPP’s robust commitment to diversity is fundamental to the Institute’s mission of advancing knowledge, educating future leaders in the field and providing public service.

Psychoanalytic Association

The Psychoanalytic Association (PA) is a professional, collegial association open to all graduates and current students of WCSPP for a yearly membership fee. Licensed professionals who have not trained at WCSPP can apply to become Affiliate Members.

The many benefits of membership include opportunities to network with clinicians from many disciplines throughout the tri-state area and listing in a directory of all members, including their specialties, access to PEP-WEB, an online comprehensive library of psychoanalytic journals and books, invitations to attend Scientific Meetings and Fireside Chats as well as the association’s annual retreat. Most importantly, attendance at PA functions can help develop and foster a professional home.