Psychoanalytic Training Programs
Prepare to practice as a psychoanalyst.
Overview
WBCP offers Psychoanalytic Training Programs in both Adult and Child & Adolescent analysis. There is also a Psychoanalytic Scholar Program for academicians not seeking full clinical training
The Psychoanalytic Training Program is designed to provide psychoanalytic candidates with comprehensive training in psychoanalytic theory and technique. Successful graduates are qualified to practice clinical psychoanalysis with adults. We welcome licensed and practicing mental health clinicians, and our program is strengthened by representation from multiple disciplines.
The WBCP offers specialized training in psychoanalysis with children and adolescents. Because adult psychoanalysts and child analysts share fundamental understandings of the human mind and its development, the Adult and Child & Adolescent Psychoanalytic Training Programs share the first four years of the curriculum.
The Psychoanalytic Scholar Program was developed for individuals in non-clinical or scholarly disciplines who wish to utilize psychoanalytic concepts in their work.
We encourage collegiality among psychoanalytic candidates, students, and faculty, as we regard an open and comfortable environment to be most conducive to free discussion and learning
Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program
The Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program takes a multidisciplinary approach, organized around a core that integrates the major theoretical schools of psychoanalysis with current understandings of the working of the human mind. Rooted in classical psychoanalytic thought and the writings of Sigmund Freud, learning is ultimately focused on contemporary experience, relevance, and application for individuals, communities, and societies. This diversity of psychoanalytic perspectives provides the candidate with a rich body of knowledge and mode of inquiry, enabling a deepening understanding of the clinical application of an analytic mindset to work with individuals, and within groups and organizations. In order to enable ongoing participation in scholarly and clinical discourse, candidates are supported in developing and enhancing clinical research and writing skills.
During the first two years of the Psychoanalytic training, candidates engage in the Psychoanalytic Studies Program Curriculum (PSP) based on essential concepts in the field of psychoanalysis.
Candidates are expected to begin personal analysis and may also begin supervised analytic cases during the PSP period of training.
During the third and fourth years, coursework continues, building on foundational concepts and deepening candidates’ immersion in psychoanalytic thought, theory, and practice as each candidate’s personal analysis and supervision continue. In subsequent years, the course load diminishes but continues until graduation.
Candidates are eligible for membership in the American Psychoanalytic Association, and, upon graduation, for membership in the International Psychoanalytical Association.
Curriculum
Consistent with the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Standards and Principles for Psychoanalytic Education, training in psychoanalysis at the WBCP encompasses four components: (1) The Didactic Curriculum; (2) Candidate’s Personal Analysis; (3) Supervision of Analytic Cases; and (4) Professional Development.
1. The Didactic Curriculum
The curriculum reflects a developmental approach to learning which melds increasing depth and complexity over time with respect for individual variations in learning styles. The curriculum aims to involve our students and candidates in the study of fundamental human dilemmas including the habits of mind and behavior which hinder individuals, groups, and societies from living more fully and freely. This curriculum provides access to a special form of discourse about thinking and living more creatively and ways to help societies and individuals address the impediments to doing so.
Years 1 and 2 of this course of study consist of the Psychoanalytic Studies Program Curriculum. While these courses can be taken as an end in themselves, they provide candidates with the fundamental concepts, techniques, and histories of what has come to be called a psychoanalytic understanding of the mind.
Years 3 and 4 of the curriculum provide increased immersion in those ideas, both technical and clinical, which constitute a psychoanalytic approach to understanding the human mind and the treatment of its disorders as they become manifest in individuals, communities, and the larger cultural and social surround. The exploration of contemporary constructions of seminal concepts such as the unconscious, mental conflict, transference, phantasy, and trauma, provides students with an in-depth psychoanalytic education alive to the meanings and collapses in meaning inherent in living in the twenty-first century. The curriculum similarly advances an updated understanding of psychoanalytic constructions of race, racialization, identity, gender, and sexuality with an emphasis on how these constructions have shaped both the internal worlds of individuals and society as a whole.
Years 5 and Beyond:
The curriculum in the fifth and subsequent years until graduation is geared toward synthesizing prior learning and deepening psychoanalytic identity. Through a series of elective courses on special topics in psychoanalysis and required courses targeting the interrelations of theory and technique, candidates deepen their sense of the analytic process as a living encounter between two people. In a tutorial-style writing course, candidates refine their ability to meaningfully describe complex, unfolding psychoanalytic processes between themselves and their patients. In courses on “Questions for a Psychoanalysis,” “Psychoanalytic Impasses,” and “Enactments,” candidates and students deepen their understanding and ability to address often encountered but difficult to work with clinical phenomena. Particular attention is given to the application of this learning to work within wider social contexts and community organizations. Participation in ongoing study groups and research forums in order to further develop each candidate’s unique analytic voice and analytic identity is encouraged.
2. Candidate’s Personal Analysis
Candidates are expected to begin a personal psychoanalysis as soon as possible after admission. This develops a candidate’s sensitivity to the workings of unconscious mental life in clinical work. Candidates not already in psychoanalysis may consult with the Chair of the Admissions Committee about choosing a Training Analyst approved by the Washington Baltimore Institute. Applicants who have already begun an analysis with a Training Analyst from another approved training institute may continue with that analyst while training at the Washington Baltimore Institute. In some instances, a waiver for continuing an ongoing analysis with a non-training analyst from WBCP or another approved institute is possible. The Chair of the Admissions Committee can be contacted to discuss the possibility and procedure for this option.
A candidate’s personal analysis is expected to continue through the majority of training and supervised clinical work. During training, a candidate’s personal analysis is expected to be conducted at a frequency of at least four times weekly. Treatment fees are arranged privately by the candidate and the psychoanalyst. Personal analysis is completely confidential.
3. Supervision of Analytic Cases
Supervised clinical analysis is a major part of training in psychoanalysis. Candidates may begin a control case – a case under supervision by a Supervising analyst – once a candidate is in a well established personal analysis, generally after about 6 months. Candidates will work with a minimum of three patients over the course of their training in order to gain a variety of different clinical and supervisory experiences. Treatments generally take place four times a week and may be conducted in person or remotely. Each case is supervised by a Supervising Analyst approved by the Washington Baltimore Institute. Candidates in adult training may elect to include one child or adolescent patient as part of this experience. A minimum of 225 hours of supervision across three cases is required for graduation. For candidates who are in child and adolescent psychoanalytic training, a minimum of 150 hours of supervision across two cases is required for graduation.
Fees for supervision are in addition to tuition and are negotiated between the candidate and the supervisor.
4. Professional Development
Psychoanalytic education is a lifelong endeavor. We intend our training to prepare graduates for an ongoing process of development and the pursuit of excellence as practicing analysts. We also recognize that educational experiences supporting the development and sustaining of an analytic identity and an analytic practice must begin in candidacy. Because psychoanalysts work in a variety of settings, we also aim to prepare candidates for roles as scholars, educators, supervisors, and mentors in the mental health and medical communities, as well as in the wider social and business worlds.
We strive to facilitate a smooth transition from candidacy to full participation in our professional community. All candidates are encouraged to attend our regularly scheduled Scientific Meetings. We include candidates on many Institute committees and routinely welcome our graduates into our psychoanalytic community. Most of our graduates become active members of our Center; many become teachers and leaders on our faculty.
Logistics
Location
Classes for the 2024-25 academic year will be held primarily via Zoom with some in person classes, with the schedule and location to be announced.
Time Commitment
Classes in both the Psychoanalytic Studies and Psychoanalytic Training Programs take place on Tuesdays from 4:00 pm – 8:15 pm Eastern. Each Tuesday includes three distinct courses, each 75 minutes in length
Years 1 and 2:
Reading assignments average 80 pages a week in total in the first year, less in the second year. Supervision requires at least an additional hour per week. There may also be travel time involved in analysis and supervision, depending on whether the training analysis or supervision is on Zoom or in-person.
Years 3 and 4:
Candidates can expect to commit about 10 hours or so a week during 30 weeks of classes each year. Candidates also participate in analysis and have supervision hours which vary from person to person. Personal analysis typically is conducted at a frequency of four to five days per week. Supervision hours depend on the number of control cases, with each case likely to have one hour of supervision per week. There may also be travel time involved in analysis and supervision, depending on whether the training analysis or supervision is on Zoom or in-person.
Years 5 and Beyond:
Candidates continue personal analysis, supervision, and at least one class per year.
Child & Adolescent Training Program
The Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis (WBCP) has a long tradition of teaching child and adolescent psychoanalysis. The Center’s Child & Adolescent Training Program exposes candidates to theoretical contributions from all major schools of psychoanalytic thought. The theoretical presentations are complemented by clinical courses which focus on the following:
- Diagnosis with an emphasis on the importance of understanding the difference between normality and pathology at each developmental level.
- Ways in which the vicissitudes of development can be technically worked with, thus enhancing mutative action in the treatment of children, adolescents, and their families.
- Understanding how unconscious phenomena affect analytic interventions with children and adolescents.
- Appreciation of the environmental and constitutional factors which contribute to the psychological development of the child.
WBCP offers an integrated child and adolescent/adult curriculum which is organized so that both technical modalities are a focus from the beginning of training. A major advantage of the integrated curriculum is that most of the required courses for child/adolescent training are offered in the adult curriculum. Candidates learn about psychoanalytic theory and technique and its applicability and complexity at all developmental stages. The early exposure to child clinical work highlights the relevance and value of developmental thinking which increases the analysts attunement to both child and adult analysands. Later work focuses more specifically on children and adolescents.
Curriculum
Required courses
Psychoanalytic Theories of Development
This course highlights the theoretical underpinnings of a number of psychoanalytic theories as they relate to the concept of development. Development will be understood as a complex interaction between maturational/constitution factors and environmental experiences which affect functioning. An enhanced knowledge of how derailment in development can lead to pathological compromises and mental functioning is imperative in the psychoanalytic treatment of patients at all developmental levels. The understanding of play, fantasy and action as means of deepening the analytic process and promoting self-reflection in work with the children and adults will be discussed in depth.
Development Illustrated via Clinical Material
The study of human development provides scaffolding for understanding psycho-sexual and psycho-social experiences throughout the life cycle. The intrapsychic and interpersonal phenomena at each stage lay the groundwork for the subsequent levels of development. This course will use clinical material to examine the following psycho-sexual stages of life: Oedipal, Latency, Pre-adolescence, Middle-adolescence, Late-adolescence.
Adolescent Continuous Case
In this course an adolescent psychoanalytic case will be presented. Clinical material from the assessment period, as well as the beginning, middle, and termination phases of adolescent analysis will be presented and discussed. The technical challenges of treating patients from this phase of development will be highlighted.
Child Continuous Case
In this course a child psychoanalytic case will be presented. The class will unfold in the same way as the above described Adolescent Continuous Case.
Continuing Case Seminar in Psychoanalysis
This is a required course to be taken outside of the adult curriculum requirements. Typically it involves the presentation of one or more psychoanalyses. Special focus is given to the discussion of technique as it affects the progress of the analysis. Graduate analysts typically participate in the seminar with candidates. Participants are encouraged to consider alternative interventions, and to review their potential impact on the treatment process. The presentations offer an opportunity to consider topics discussed in advanced technique courses, including manifestations of transference, countertransference, defense analysis, and contemporary thinking regarding therapeutic action.
Logistics
Training Progression and Graduation Requirements
A candidate may request permission to begin their first case at any time. It is preferable that candidates be in their own training analysis for at least part of their child and adolescent training.
Progression is determined by the number of cases that the candidate has in analysis as well as the Child/Adolescent Progress Committee’s (CAPC) evaluation of the candidate’s capacities to understand the complexities of the analytic process with children and adolescent patients.
Requirements for graduation are the supervised analyses of two child/adolescent patients and while it is highly beneficial to have the experience of seeing a younger child (early to middle childhood) and an adolescent, as well as both genders, the CAPC assesses each candidate’s clinical opportunities on a case by case basis, allowing for flexibility when necessary. The candidate will need to have had a minimum of 150 supervisory hours with reasonable distribution of the hours among the cases. It is preferable that the candidate have three different supervisors if possible.
Graduation is determined by CACP in consultation with the Institute Council (IC), and is based on the Candidate’s ability to do autonomous analytic work with children and adolescents.
Standards for Training in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis
The standards for training in child and adolescent psychoanalysis were adapted in June 2018 by the WBPI Institute Council, in accordance with the new standards set by the American Psychoanalytic Association (revised further in 2022). Outlined below are both the standards set by the WBPI and the APsaA.
Frequency of Sessions for Child and Adolescent Cases: Control cases will be seen at a frequency of between three and five times per week.
The Frame for Child and Adolescent Cases: With the exception of frequency of sessions (3 – 5 times per week) and the use of the couch, all standards for the Adult Training Program apply to child analyses.
III. Supervision of Child and Adolescent Cases and Creditability:
- Supervision:
- Each case in child and adolescent psychoanalytic training should be supervised by a different child and adolescent supervising analyst, if possible. There will be no fewer than two different supervisors.
- A candidate may change supervisors at any time without question or explanation.
- Candidates meet weekly with supervisors. Frequency of supervisory meetings can be reduced when immersion criteria have been met at the discretion of supervisor-supervisee and in consultation with the child advisor as the candidate progresses. However, a candidate must remain in supervision on a supervised control case until graduation
- The means by which supervision is conducted – whether electronically or in person – will be determined by the candidate and supervisor. The CPC needs to be informed of the nature of the supervision.Creditability:
- At least two child and adolescent patients from different stages of development (i.e., pre-latency, latency, and adolescence). If a candidate has a child/adolescent case as one of the two cases required for the adult program, that case will count as one of the two child/adolescent cases needed to graduate from the child program.
- Differing gender orientations whenever possible.
- A minimum total of 150 supervisory hours across both cases.
- Both cases have reached the mid-phase of analysis.
- Personal Analysis: It is recommended that candidates in the Child and Adolescent Training Program should be in a personal analysis for a substantial period of their training. The standards for the personal analysis are the same as for the personal analysis in the Adult Training Program.
- Graduation:
- All required coursework is satisfactorily completed.
- All required writing assignments are satisfactorily completed. Case reports, including interrupted cases, and supervisor reports must be complete and in the candidate’s file.
- A minimum of two creditable cases:
(a) From different stages of development
(b) Of differing gender orientations whenever possible. The Child and Adolescent Committee will determine, on a case by case basis, whether or not this requirement can be waived for a particular candidate.
(c) A minimum of 150 supervisory hours across both cases
(d) Both cases have reached the mid-phase of analysis
- The candidate has no unresolved legal or ethical problems regarding patient care.
- All financial obligations to the Institute have been paid in full.
APsaA Standards and Principles for Psychoanalytic Education (revised February 11, 2022), Section VIII. Education in Child and Adolescent Analysis.
Section 5. Paragraph 3. Supervision of Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis
- Child and adolescent patients in supervised psychoanalysis will be seen at a recommended frequency of three to five times per week through termination, barring exceptional circumstances necessitating temporary alteration of this frame.
- All standards for supervised casework for adult psychoanalytic education apply to adult cases of candidates who are in combined adult, child and adolescent training. Candidates in combined adult, child and adolescent programs are required to analyze at least two child and adolescent patients from different stages of development. Whenever possible, these two cases will be of different identity characteristics including, but not limited to gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, race, ethnicity, culture, ability status and socioeconomic status. Each of the required cases should demonstrate a period of significant analytic work and process beyond the opening phase. As in adult training (see Sec. IV.C, p.9), Institutes are encouraged to offer additional alternative supervised experiences during child training, e.g., a psychoanalytic psychotherapy, a psychoanalytic research project, or a clinical psychoanalytic activity in the community.
Admissions
Applications to the Psychoanalytic Training Programs are accepted on a rolling basis. We
encourage you to apply as early as possible since offers of admission will be made as soon as the application process is completed. Applications for the academic year beginning in October are due by June 1 of that same year.
Please note: The Psychoanalytic Training programs are only offered on a full time basis.
The application process is meant to be a collaborative process that allows applicants to learn
about the Institute and about themselves. We welcome applicants from diverse clinical fields
and from the worlds of academia, the arts and other community and cultural institutions who
believe that the study of psychoanalysis will inform and enrich their work.
Applicants will be considered without regard to race, sex, marital status, sexual orientation or
disability.
Admission Requirements
Applicants to both Adult and the Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Training Programs must be independently licensed in a mental health field. These include (but are not limited to) psychiatry, psychology, social work,
professional counseling, and marriage and family counseling.
Candidates are expected to begin a personal analysis as soon as possible after admission.
We ask that applicants to the Psychoanalytic Training programs submit the following written
materials through the online application portal. Please have all materials ready when you apply as the system will not accept partial submissions.
- Complete Application form CLICK HERE
- A biographical statement that includes your personal history and experience and your
reflections about that experience (5 pages). - A career narrative, including the chronology of your career evolution and your reflections on your choices (3 pages).
- A recent comprehensive curriculum vitae.
- A copy of your professional license.
Three letters of recommendation from senior clinicians who know your work well, at least one of which is from a clinical supervisor. Please submit the names and addresses of the recommenders through the application portal. Please have the people you have asked to write the letters upload them CLICK HERE or email them to Joe@wbcp.org with the subject line of Institute Candidate application
We also ask you to submit clinical material for discussion. This will include a case report that
includes a brief history of a selected patient and a history of the treatment (5 pages). In
addition, we ask you to submit process notes from the two consecutive sessions with the same patient. We prefer that you present material from a case that is in progress at the time of the application, or if that is not possible, from some time within the last year. The process notes are in transcript form, but necessarily not verbatim dialog. They are, rather, your best effort to convey the back and forth of a session and the feelings and thoughts that are evoked in the sessions. Please upload the written clinical material directly to the following. CLICK HERE
For current PSP students applying for candidacy, we will also review feedback from your PSP
instructors.
In addition to application materials, we may look at and consider your web presence as it
pertains to your professional affiliations.
Admission Process
Once the Admissions Committee receives all of your materials, the Chair of the Admissions
Committee will contact you about the membership of your Candidate Panel. The Candidate
Panel is composed of three senior analysts, a chair and two additional members. The Panel
members will contact you to set up an individual interview with each panel member. Following
the completion of the personal interviews, the Panel Chair will contact you to set a time to meet with the full panel to discuss the clinical material you submitted. Our goal during this meeting is to think together with you about the psychological processes and challenges involved in the clinical work you present.
Admission decisions are made by the Admissions Committee with oversight by the Institute
Council of the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis. Decisions regarding your
application can include a recommendation for further study or supervision before you reapply, or a request for additional interviews.
Please note: Individuals may choose to apply to the Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program concurrent with application to the Psychoanalytic Studies Program (PSP). Application can also be made at any time during or after completing the PSP.
For more information about the Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program or your particular circumstances, please contact the Chair of the Admissions Committee: Mimi Blasiak, MSW, tel. 240-447-3388 or email her at mimi.blasiak@gmail.com
Tuition & Fees
The fees for the 2023 – 2024 academic year are as follows:
Application Fee $160.00
Candidate Tuition $3,242.00
Advanced Candidate Tuition $2,057.00
Matriculation $266.00
*2024 – 2025 fees will be posted in the near future. Typically tuition and fees are increased to keep pace with annual inflation changes.
Scholarships
As part of our commitment to support increased diversity and to meet some of the financial needs of students in our training programs, the WBCP is pleased to be able to offer scholarship funding to cover the cost of tuition for eligible PSP and Institute students. We welcome applications for scholarship support.
To find out more about the guidelines for applying or to submit an application, please visit the Scholarship Application page or please email David Cooper, PhD at dcooperphd@gmail.com
American Psychoanalytic Association Candidate Assistance Fund
The ApsA Candidate Assistance Fund provides loans up to $5000 to candidates training to be psychoanalysts. Loans are available to applicants who have completed one year of training and who demonstrate financial need. More information may be found at apsa.org.
Psychoanalytic Scholar Program
Non clinicians who are interested in pursuing an in depth study of psychoanalysis may apply to our Psychoanalytic Scholar Program. This program is designed to allow non clinicians to study psychoanalysis in greater depth, adding a second two years of study to the two years of study that make up our Psychoanalytic Studies Program (PSP). The goal of the program is for the study of psychoanalysis to enrich and enhance the scholar candidate’s professional work. Students who pursue this course of study come from varied fields, including journalism,education, the arts, and philosophy. Though scholar candidates do not have a clinical component to their studies, they are asked to complete a project that integrates the study of psychoanalysis with their chosen professional area. Scholar candidates are also asked to participate in their own personal analysis during the course of their two years of study. Students who complete the full 4 years of study – two years of the PSP and two years as scholar candidates in our Psychoanalytic Scholar Program will graduate as a Graduate Scholar.
For information about the Psychoanalytic Scholar Program, please contact the Chair of the Admissions Committee, Mimi Blasiak, MSW, at 240-447-3388 or email mimi.blasiak@gmail.com.The governing body of the Washington Baltimore Psychoanalytic Institute is the Institute Council (IC).