Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program Curriculum

LibraryProgram Overview

The program comprises two academic years, from September to June. Classes take place every Monday from 6:30 to 9:15 pm, with a clinical case conference every other Thursday from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. All classes are held at SPSI. The classes and case conferences provide a supportive environment in which to learn and grow as a therapist, while allowing the student to form a peer group of potentially lifelong professional relationships.

Four-Year Adult Psychoanalytic Training Curriculum (revised 2024)

First Year

  • Sequence I: Theoretical models of the major schools of psychoanalysis. Ego psychology, object relations, self psychology, relational theory. Integration of theory and process.
  • Sequence II: The clinical situation and technique. Establishing safety; psychoanalytic listening; free association. Conflicts and defenses; working though; transference/countertransference; the phases of treatment.
  •  Sequence III: Development. Infancy, pre-oedipal years, and oedipal years.
  • Clinical Case Conference (every other week)

Second Year

  • Sequence I: Technique. Dreams, enactments, trauma.
  • Sequence II: Pathology. Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive issues, masochism, dissociative and borderline phenomena, psychosomatic difficulties, and addictions.
  • Sequence III: Development. Latency, adolescence, adult development. Gender and sexuality.
  •  Clinical Case Conference (every other week).

Faculty

APPP instructors are drawn from the faculty of Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, faculty from other analytic institutes, and the greater psychotherapy community at large.