Foundations of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Training

Admission

Admission is by application and interviews, on a rolling basis. Applicants must be licensed in NY or CT and have current professional liability insurance.

Applicants must be from one of the following professions:

Social Work: MSW or PhD in Social Work from an accredited university. State license is required.

Psychology: PhD or PsyD in Psychology from an accredited university. State license is required.

Nurse Practitioner: NP from an accredited university. State license is required.

Psychiatry: 
MD from an accredited medical school and psychiatric residency. State license is required.

Other Licensed MENTAL HEALTH professionals from accredited programs: Marriage and Family Therapist, Mental Health Therapist, Creative Arts Therapist. State license is required.

Course Work

The two-year academic program is organized as a trimester system with one course per trimester and a monthly Clinical Presentation Seminar.

The course meets via Zoom for 11 weeks on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 8:20 pm. The Clinical Presentation Seminar (group supervision) meets after class three times each trimester from 8:30 to 9:45 pm. NYS Continuing Education credits are granted for coursework, provided attendance requirements are met.

On the twelfth Tuesday of the Fall and Spring trimesters candidates attend a Town Meeting where WCSPP candidates, graduates, and faculty assemble for discussion.

Supervision

A minimum of 80 hours of faculty supervision is required over two years. In order to earn credit, participants must have at least 40 hours with the same faculty supervisor. The first Faculty Supervisor will be assigned by Co-directors of the Program, and this first-year supervisor will then be the candidate’s advisor throughout the entire program. Supervision can take place in person or virtually.

Clinical Requirement

Candidates are required to provide treatment on a weekly basis to patients assigned through the Psychotherapy Service. For each 40 week block of supervision, training patients must be seen at least once a week for at least 32 of the 40 supervisory sessions. While serving as a training case, patient fees are paid to WCSPP. After training concludes, there is the possibility of converting the patient to the candidate’s private practice.

Personal Psychotherapy

Personal psychotherapy must be concurrent with treating a patient from the WCSPP Psychotherapy Service. The minimum requirement is weekly psychotherapy with a psychoanalytic psychotherapist who must be a graduate of either WCSPP or another recognized institute program in psychoanalysis and have at least five years of experience beyond certification. Therapists trained outside WCSPP must be approved by the Training Committee. Training psychotherapists do not participate in administrative decisions about the candidate, nor do they report on the candidate’s progress.

Program Courses

Candidates take one course per trimester and a Clinical Presentation Seminar:

First Year

Principles of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 1 (Fall Trimester)
This course will be organized around exploring the meaning of all aspects of the frame details including the consulting room arrangement, frequency and length of time of meetings, fee, vacations, policy for missed visits, and modifications of the frame due to special circumstances. Other topics may include transference, countertransference, therapeutic alliance, ethics, and boundaries. The class will consider what defines a psychoanalytic treatment.

The Art of Listening (Winter Trimester)
Candidates will focus on deepening their understanding of all aspects of the complexity of listening from a psychoanalytic perspective–listening for unconscious influences, transference, countertransference, multiple levels of meaning in language/imagery and understanding of empathic engagement.

Principles of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 2 (Spring Trimester)
Candidates will consider theories of mental health, what is mutative in treatment, what is the focus of therapeutic attention, and how to understand verbal and nonverbal communication and enactment in the treatment setting. Current issues and controversies in psychoanalytic work will be discussed.

Second Year

Human Development (Fall Trimester)
This course emphasizes the use of psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theories of development to study the impact of patients’ personal histories. It follows the shift from the internal, instinctual focus of early theory to attachment theory and relational theory. It explores the impact of developmental perspectives on psychotherapy with children, adolescents, and adults.

Principles of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 3 (Winter Trimester)
This course will focus on the unconscious dimensions in the therapeutic process that includes dreams, symptoms, fantasy, thoughts, feelings, and the therapeutic relationship.

Contemporary Clinical Issues in Treatment (Spring Trimester)
This course will focus on theory and technique with patients who present different clinical concerns such as abuse, trauma, substance use, affect regulation, body image and sexuality. Issues of ethics and boundary violations will also be discussed.

First & Second Year – Clinical Presentation Seminar

The Clinical Presentation Seminar (Group Supervision) is taught in the Foundation Program to the combined first and second year classes. This course meets once per month on the second Tuesday of the month from 8:30-9:45 PM. In this course, candidates will have the opportunity to present the treatment of their training patient to fellow candidates and a senior faculty member. Discussions are focused on integrating concepts which have been introduced in readings and in class. A different candidate will present at each meeting.

Fees

Tuition: $575 per course per trimester, to be paid prior to the start of each trimester, plus a $75 administrative fee per trimester

Clinical case seminar: $100 per trimester (meets 3x per trimester both years)

Individual supervision of training case: $50 per session, paid directly to the supervisor by the candidate

Financial assistance may be available on a need documented basis, and individual payment plans may be arranged with prior approval.