Psychoanalysis for the 21st Century
The WBCP brings over 75 years of commitment and innovation to the field of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic training. Welcome.
What are you interested in?
Institute
Prepare to practice as an Adult Psychoanalyst. Child and Adolescent Training is also offered.
Explore InstituteCommunity Psychoanalysis Certificate Program
Enhance your clinical practice by combining didactic and applied learning.
Learn MoreNew Directions
Interdisciplinary writing program with psychoanalytic exploration.
Learn MoreWe at the WBCP are committed to examining all aspects of diversity in the composition of our membership, our client systems, and our teaching. We are committed to redressing failures of the past through furthering our own education and sensitivities to issues of diversity. We aim to create a welcoming atmosphere that is open to discussion and change, one that approaches past failures with non-defensiveness, accepting responsibility and committing to improvement. We aim to grow.
WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE SAYING
Public Programs Calendar
October
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 | 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
25th Annual Saltz Grand Rounds: Reflective Parenting – Dr. Regina Pally
Behavioral Health Grand Rounds 25th Annual Julia and Thomas Saltz Grand Rounds Topic: Reflective Parenting Clinical work with parents who need help regulating their child’s behavior and emotions Spe…
Saturday, October 24, 2026 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The Thomas and Julia Saltz Annual Adult Seminar Workshop: Professional Will Boot Camp: An Emotional, Ethical, and Practical Workshop – Jeffrey Axelbank, PsyD
WBCP presents The Thomas and Julia Saltz Annual Adult Seminar Workshop Professional Will Boot Camp: An Emotional, Ethical, and Practical Workshop Saturday, October 24, 2026 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET Lunc…
Friday, October 30, 2026 | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Psychoanalytic Takes on Cinema: “The Backrooms”: Alex Smith, PsyD
Discussion of the film “The Backrooms” 2025 (110 mins) Director: Kane Parsons After a therapist’s patient disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must venture into the unknown to save him. …
November
Friday, November 6, 2026 | 12:00 am – Sunday, November 8, 2026 | 12:00 am
New Directions Weekend Conference: Caged Bodies, Freed Minds
November 6 @ 12:00 am – November 8 @ 12:00 am Caged Bodies, Freed Minds Under what conditions are we free to think? To open ourselves to relating across boundaries of class, color, and experienc…
December
Sunday, December 6, 2026 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Save the Date: Stacia I. Super Memorial Ethics Conference
Stacia I. Super Memorial Ethics Conference Topic: Analyst Retirement: Ethical, Clinical, and Pragmatic Issues Speakers: Christie Platt, PhD, Tarpley Long, LCSW-C, Sandra Lashley, PsyD, and Andrew Car…
Read on …
WBCP publishes essays and articles on this website in two collections.
PsychBites offers monthly tapas-sized reads designed to spark interest and provoke thought.
While Beyond the Couch delivers periodic posts focused on bringing community back into psychoanalysis.
PsychBytes
Tapas-sized reads designed to spark interest and provoke thought.

The Reality Principle
When I was in graduate school studying child development, a friend and I would go to a local playground and watch the adult caregivers and children. Inevitably, it would be time to go. Often enough, the child would want to stay: tough stuff! I imagine the following: the parent says, “We have to go so I can cook dinner before Mommy comes home.” And we all remember the child’s response, “But I don’t want to!” Dialogue is met with screaming, yet the crying protests fail. Then the horror: The larger person would pick up the smaller and carry it away. The smaller, we remember, might feel like “an it”, a thing, not an autonomous person. Our will, the child’s will, was met with what Sigmund Freud called the reality principle. Many of us adults today are equally frustrated by the reality principle as we are carried off to places we do not want to go. The world is taking many of us down a road…

The Eloquence of Silent Dreams
Although psychoanalysis is based on “putting it into words,” most dreams, Freud’s “royal road to the unconscious,” lack spoken words. Researchers believe such dreams are silent because they tap pre-verbal experience, enabling them to achieve a profound ambiguity. The specificity of words can narrow that potential…

On Leaving and Holding
One aspect of Joachim Trier’s 2026, Academy Award-nominated film, Sentimental Value, lingers: the idea that a house can hold memory, and in doing so, remind people of who they are and who they have been. The family home in the film becomes a kind of unconscious structure, a repository for grief, history, and the versions of themselves they could not keep.
Beyond the Couch
Thoughtful posts bringing community back into psychoanalysis.
A Grand Experiment in Community Mental Health: The DC Institute for Mental Hygiene
After graduating from Catholic University, I inquired where people went to get the best training in psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory and practice. The Washington School of Psychiatry and the DC Institute for

Faraway Voices: Healing Through Writing
The early morning sun shines through the window of my home office as I open the Zoom link to connect with 6 young women who have just finished their evening

The House of Ruth
In her essay about her years as a board member at the House of Ruth, Carolyn Gruber does a beautiful job describing the work done in this incredible “house” where
News + Updates
Stay informed and read the latest news from WBCP.

Letter From the President
The Center is operating at full tilt, with the usual high level of excellence that we are known for. Simultaneously, we are engaging in diversity, equity , and inclusion efforts

Dr. Andrew Carroll Awarded 2024 Edith Sabshin Teaching Award
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Andrew Carroll, the 2024 recipient of the Edith Sabshin Teaching Award. The Sabshin Award was established by the APsaP Council to recognize those who