An Introduction to Psychoanalytic Child Psychotherapy: An overview of Infancy, Latency and Adolescence from an Object Relations Perspective

A One Year Intensive Course

• One-year overview course, pre-birth to adolescence
• A synthesis of prenatal life, infancy, latency and adolescence from an object relations perspective
• Integration with infant research and neurobiology
• Introduction to psychoanalytic clinical treatment, from infants to adolescents
• Working with parents
• Combined didactic and case-based seminars
• Beginning September of each year

General Information

The Psychoanalytic Center of California has created a one-year introductory course for mental health clinicians and professionals working with children entitled: Psychoanalytic Child Psychotherapy: An Overview of Infancy, Latency and Adolescence from an Object Relations Perspective. This clinically oriented course will introduce highlights of contemporary psychoanalytic theory and of psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy with infants, children, adolescents and their families. Qualified licensed clinicians from the various fields of mental health are invited to apply. Readings are selected to provide an object relations psychoanalytic perspective on development from pre-birth through adolescence. Upon finishing the course, the P.C.C will award a Certificate of Completion.

The One Year Certificate Program in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy consists of two interrelated components: 1. Six clinically oriented seminars; 2. Small Group Supervision.

This clinically oriented course will provide an opportunity to develop and deepen the psychoanalytic knowledge and the clinical therapeutic skills of intensive psychotherapy, with special emphasis on the contributions of British Object Relations theory. Qualified licensed clinicians from the various fields of mental health are invited to apply. Upon finishing the course, PCC will award a Certificate of Completion.

Objectives

The course endeavors to provide a perspective on the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and the nature of human development. Attention will be given to major developmental phases and the accompanying states of mind from prenatal life through infancy, childhood and adolescence. The course introduces psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic theory and technique for working with infants, children and adolescents from the Object Relations Models. This approach builds on the work of Klein, Winnicott, Bion, Tustin, Meltzer and others. This model of mind and relationships has been a central theoretical and clinical component of all training programs at the P.C.C. Additionally, readings from the London Tavistock Clinical Series will be included. The teaching of theoretical concepts will be closely correlated with clinical application in all seminars.

Structure

This introductory course on child development and clinical treatment integrates in each two-hour seminar, a theoretical conceptualization and clinical application. The course will focus on essential and unfolding elements of the psychotherapeutic encounter with parents and their children from pregnancy, infancy, and childhood through adolescence. Two-hour seminars are conducted over three trimesters. The course begins in late September and ends in June. Students are expected to present case material from their clinical work for discussion, and instructors will also discuss clinical applications of the material.

Overview

The course presents a succinct overview of human emotional development, from possible meanings of pre-birth experience, to the nature and significance of the mother/father/infant relationship, through the states of mind characteristic of young child, latency and adolescent mentality, to the formative impact, from puberty to adulthood, of various states of mind on the psychosexual development of the individual.

Fall Courses
10 sessions

• Discovering Infantile Mental Life
• Pre-birth Experiences
• Nature and Significance of the Mother/Infant Relationship
• Considerations about Early Development
• Early Affect Regulation
• Developmental Disorders
• Launching the Treatment
• Assessment
• Fundamental Needs
• The Growth of Mental Structures
• Unconscious Phantasy
• Early Oedipus Complex and Super-ego Formation
  

• Diagnostic Evaluation of the Child
• Neuroses in Children
• Psychotic Illness in Early Childhood
• The Psychotherapeutic Setting
• The Playroom
• Issues of Play Technique
• Communication and Interpretation in Work with Young Children
• Gathering the Transference
• Working with Children who cannot talk or play
• Technique of Working with Latency Age Children
• Issues of Emotionality and Learning Disorders

• Issues of Puberty and Adolescence
• Problems of Unresolved Oedipal Issues
• The Assessment of Adolescence
• Adolescent States of Mind
• Eating Disorders and Other Psychopathologies
• The Adolescent at Risk
• Gang Mentality and Delinquency
• Issues of Termination and Ending Therapy

Application

Applicants complete a form submitted with a $50 non-refundable application fee and are subsequently interviewed by two members of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program Faculty.

Application forms or additional information about the program may be obtained by contacting The PCC or writing to:

The Psychoanalytic Center of California
11110 Ohio Avenue, #106
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone:     (310) 478-4347                       Email:      psychcntr.pcc@verizon.net
Fax:         (310) 996-0237                       Website:   www.psychoanalytic-center.org

Non-discrimination Statement

The Psychoanalytic Center of California admits students of any race, color, sex, national and ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded to or made available to students at the Center. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and other school-administered programs.

Certificate

Upon completion of the course, PCC awards students with a Certificate of Completion.

A Note for Physicians; Psychologists; Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapitsts; and Nurses:

Physicians
This is an activity offered by the Psychoanalytic Center of California, a CMA-accredited provider. Physicians attending this course may report up to 90 hours of Category 1 credits toward the California Medical Association's Certificate in Continuing Medical Education and the American Medical Association's Physician's Recognition Award.

Psychologists
The Psychoanalytic Center of California is approved by the California Psychological Association Accrediting Agency to offer Mandatory Continuing Education for Psychologists (Provider # PSY 009). This course meets the qualifications for 90 hours of continuing education credit for Category 1 Credit from the California Psychological Association for this course.

Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists
The Psychoanalytic Center of California, is approved by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to grant credit for those holding LCSW and MFT licenses (Provider PCE 1355). This course meets the qualifications for 90 hours of continuing education credit for MFTs and LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

Nurses
The Psychoanalytic Center of California is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # CEP 6003.