Adult Psychoanalytic Training
The Florida Psychoanalytic Institute Training Program in Adult Psychoanalysis
Overview
The Florida Psychoanalytic Institute is the branch of the Center that oversees the training of candidates in psychoanalysis. The following is an outline of the unique didactic structure of our 4-year training program, followed by the Institute’s mission, philosophy, faculty, and other aspects of our program.
The Unique Nature of our Didactic Classes Structure – 7 Intensive Weekends
Our training program is currently the only program accredited by the American Psychoanalytic Association that offers a format for didactic classes of 7 intensive weekends per year rather than weekly or bi-weekly. This format is intended to make our program more logistically accessible to people in any geographical area while preserving the rigor of conventionally structured didactic classes.
The intensive weekend format entails 8 hours of classes on a Friday and 8 hours on a Saturday for 7 weekends over the course of a year. There are brief breaks throughout the day and 90 minutes allotted for lunch. Classes meet from 8.30 to 6.00 on Friday and Saturday. Long-distance candidates can fly or drive to Miami for class weekends. Classes are held in person for 5 of the 7 weekends each year. For those 5 weekends, all candidates are required to attend class in person. Two weekends, designated by the Institute, are offered in a hybrid format. Candidates who live over 2 hours from the Center have the option to attend class virtually.
One of the advantages of this class structure is that it allows us to invite analysts from around the country and world to teach. Some long-distance analysts travel to Miami to teach in person, others teach by Zoom. We have developed, and continue to develop and expand, an extensive local and long-distance faculty.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Florida Psychoanalytic Institute is to provide the highest quality education possible in the theory and technique of psychoanalysis to candidates in psychoanalytic training. We are committed to providing the kind of educational and relational experiences a candidate needs to develop into a fulfilled clinician and independent psychoanalytic thinker.
A second mission of the Florida Psychoanalytic Institute is to cultivate a vibrant, interconnected community of psychoanalysts locally, across South Florida, nationally, and internationally. We offer our Institute as a local, national, and international option for psychoanalytic learning.
What is “Psychoanalysis?”
Identifying the elements that define a treatment approach as “psychoanalysis” is a complex and debated issue. In recent decades, many previously unquestioned principles of psychoanalysis have been reexamined, deconstructed, and re-envisioned. There are now differing positions among psychoanalysts as to the importance of, for example, frequency, the use of self-disclosure, the concept of “neutrality,” and more.
Thinking About “Psychoanalysis” within the Context of Psychoanalytic Training
As a psychoanalytic organization, we welcome a diversity of views among our members about how to consider what “psychoanalysis” means. Robust interrogation and debate about our work promotes growth as an organization and a discipline, However, as a training Institute, we must agree on what we believe offers the best learning experience to candidates who are training to become psychoanalysts. The training requirements we choose flow from the positions we adopt about what most helps a candidate develop as a psychoanalyst.
Our Conception of “Psychoanalysis” within the Context of Psychoanalytic Training
When we refer to “psychoanalysis” in the context of discussing our psychoanalytic training program, we are envisioning a treatment approach that encompasses three broad realms. First is a focus on the analytic relationship. We take the position that for a treatment to be considered psychoanalysis, it must entail the fostering of an intense, deepening, intimate relationship between patient and analyst. This relationship is both the foundation and the medium for deepening analytic engagement.
Second is that the nature of the clinical engagement is psychoanalytic. Broadly, analytic engagement encompasses such elements as analyzing moment-to-moment dynamics as they transpire between patient and analyst, attending to transference-countertransference themes, listening for unconscious wishes, conflicts, and anxieties as they emerge in the analytic dyad, offering interpretations, and so on.
Third is the dimension of frequency. We hold the position that it is clinically feasible, economically and logistically possible, and helpful to patients, when indicated, to work intensively with the continuity multiple sessions per week can offer. We believe that high frequency of sessions, when indicated and when the work is approached analytically, holds powerful healing potential. We believe it is possible and important for candidates to have the learning experience of working with patients psychoanalytically multiple sessions per week.
Philosophy of Coursework and Supervision
Today’s psychoanalytic world, nationally and internationally, is marked by burgeoning theoretical pluralism and a breadth of theoretical diversity perhaps never seen before in psychoanalysis. Our identity as an Institute is anchored in a fundamental value of robust engagement didactically and clinically with multiple theoretical perspectives and broad technical diversity. We seek to prepare candidates to feel equipped to participate confidently in the contemporary psychoanalytic world.
Our commitment to theoretical diversity is evident in both our didactic coursework and clinical supervision offerings. Didactic classes include courses in Freud, Klein, Bion, Modern Ego Psychology, British Object Relations, Self-Psychology, Interpersonal Psychoanalysis, Relational Psychoanalysis, Intersubjectivity, Lacan, and Post-Bionion Field Theory, as well as other theoretical and clinical approaches. Clinically, we offer ongoing case conferences where candidates present case material to analysts from a variety of different theoretical traditions to provide an opportunity to experience how diverse theoretical ideas look and feel when applied in the clinical situation.
The provision of supervision opportunities encompassing a broad range of clinical approaches is also an anchoring priority for our psychoanalytic training program. We offer a combination of local and long-distance supervision options to allow maximum flexibility in being responsive to candidates’ supervisory needs and desires.
The Tripartite Model
The Institute of the Florida Psychoanalytic Center follows the tripartite model of psychoanalytic education that is approved by the American Psychoanalytic Association and the IPA (International Psychoanalytical Association). This model consists of three parts: a personal analysis, supervised analytic work with at least three patients, and coursework.
We hold contemporary sensibilities regarding psychoanalytic training and what it means to be a psychoanalyst. We see the tripartite model as consistent with those sensibilities in that the tripartite model emanates from a belief that the learning of psychoanalytic theory and technique cannot be approached as a purely intellectual enterprise. For your learning to be meaningful, it must be experiential, personal, and emotional, rather than purely abstract and intellectual. It is in this spirit that we adhere to and implement the tripartite model.
Personal Analysis Requirement
Candidates are required to be in a personal analysis with an approved analyst at a frequency of 4 to 5 times per week for a significant portion of their training. Ideally, the candidate should begin their analysis 6 months to a year before beginning classes. In exceptional situations, a candidate may be granted some leeway to begin their analysis after the first semester begins, however, the personal analysis at a frequency of at least 4 times pers week must begin within 4 months of the start of classes or the candidate will be asked to postpone their training. This comes from our belief that it does not serve the candidate to engage in classes without the experiential component.
Supervision and Control Case Requirements
Over the course of their training, candidates must develop 3 analytic patients of their own, with their clinical work with each patient supervised by a different supervising analyst. Two of those patients must be seen at a frequency of 4-5 times per week. The third case may be seen at a frequency of 3-5 times per week. Candidates are helped to learn how to develop analytic patients. There is leeway to pace the taking on of control cases as needed.
Training Faculty, Analysts, and Supervisors
We have developed a theoretically diverse assembly of local and national teaching faculty, supervisors, and analysts of candidates. We continue to expand our faculty and our approved analyst and supervisory group in an ongoing way. A candidate may also request an analyst who is not on our current list to be their analyst or supervisor. We determine the analyst’s eligibility based on their eligibility for membership in APsaA, years of independent practice, and clinical experience doing psychoanalysis. See Local and National Faculty, Supervisors, and Analysts (PDF) for a list of current faculty and approved analysts and supervisors.
Continuing Education Credits
CEUs and CMEs are offered for classes, 20 credits per academic year.
Tuition and Fees
Tuition is $4,000.00 per year. There is a $32.50 fee for the Psychoanalytic Electronic Database, PEP.
Fees for supervision and analysis are set individually with the analyst and supervisors.
Dialogue Model of Decision-Making
The decision to undertake training in psychoanalysis is a significant one. We believe most people who have trained as analysts feel it was one of the best decisions of their life, transformative professionally and personally. That said, there are many factors to consider in deciding whether to train at this time in your life or not. We view the process of deciding as a dialogue, a thinking through, where we wish to help you develop clarity about what feels right for you. Our Admissions Committee is available to answer any questions you have, but also, any analyst in the Institute is available to talk with you at any time.
Who to Contact for More Information-Outreach Chair
If you would like to speak with someone about any aspect of our training program, you may contact our Outreach Chair, Adriana Rosen, Ph.D. Dr. Rosen, and other members of the Outreach Committee, are available to answer any questions you might have about training. Dr. Rosen’s email is: rosen.adrianaw@gmail.com
Admissions and Application Process
The link to our online application is below. Our Admission Chair is Dr. Julio Calderon. Dr. Calderon’s email is: juliocalderonmd@gmail.com You may contact Dr. Calderon for information about the application process anytime.
Apply online or download the fillable PDF application*.