Our Training Program

In keeping with the guidelines set forth by ACPE, the training consists of three parts: classes, personal analysis, and supervised clinical work. There are four years of required classes, which meet during the fall and spring semesters of each year. With some minor variation, the time commitment for classes is one three (3) hour block per week, and two or three weekend days per semester. At this time, the standard class time is on Friday mornings, but this is subject to some shifts. We attempt, in scheduling, to be responsive to the needs of individual cohorts of candidates, within the constraints of faculty availability. 

The personal analysis is expected to be initiated prior to the beginning of supervised clinical work. While the duration of an analysis depends on individual variables, the minimum requirement, as set forth by ACPE, is two years (300 hours), at a frequency of at least three times per week.  While we do have guidelines regarding the length of post-graduate experience of the candidate’s analyst, we do not subscribe to a training analyst system, and in almost all cases, candidates have been able to work with an analyst of their own choosing. Additional details regarding the personal analysis requirement are available in our Handbook, and can be discussed individually with members of the Board.

Candidates are required to conduct two to three adult psychoanalyses, under supervision. As with the personal analysis, these treatments are to be conducted at a minimum frequency of three sessions per week. The minimum requirement is for two or more years of individual, weekly supervision with one case, and one or more years of supervision with a second. Supervision can be sought from any analyst on the faculty of the Stephen A. Mitchell Center in New York, or any analyst from the local IRPP faculty. Supervisors who do not fall into either of these two categories may be considered, in consultation with the Board.