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THE PSYCHOANALYTIC CENTER OF CALIFORNIA |
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The Core Program In the course of completing the program, the Candidate will have experienced a minimum of 776 direct contact hours (576 seminar hours; 200 supervision hours), and in addition, continuous personal analysis over most of the period of training. It is expected that all requirements of the core program will be completed within eight (8) years. The core program or Adult Certificate program consists of four areas of preparation: 1. a personal psychoanalysis; 2. a curriculum of theoretical courses and clinical conferences; 3. supervised psychoanalyses: 4. post seminar; 5. an oral examination and the writing of a final paper. Candidates undertaking Research Analyst or Child Certification, or the Ph.D. in Psychoanalysis, will complete additional requirements to the core curriculum, as described in this Catalog. Personal Psychoanalysis The personal psychoanalysis offers firsthand experience with the unconscious, with various states of mind, and with the process of working through. A high degree of personal strength, emotional stability, and mental truth seeking is the goal of such an analysis. This experience will develop the Candidate's capacity for empathy and help free the Candidate from conflict and problematic character formations, which may interfere with psychoanalytic work. The training analyst must be selected from those individuals approved by the Psychoanalytic Center of California, and the training analysis must begin prior to entering seminars. (In some cases, the Education Committee may require completion of some months of approved training analysis before seminars are begun.) A training analysis often takes more than three years, and must be conducted at a rate of four or more times per week. It is expected that a major part of the Candidate's supervised clinical cases will be undertaken while he / she is in analysis. The training analyst does not communicate with the Institute concerning the analysand except to report the number of sessions completed and whether the analysis has been temporarily interrupted or has terminated. If either Candidate or training analyst is dissatisfied with the progress of the analysis, the Candidate may choose another analyst, and must advise the Education Committee of the change. Theoretical and Clinical Curriculum The core curriculum consists of four years of classes taken on a trimester system, two classes (4) units per trimester. Each trimester is twelve weeks long. Over the period of four years, the Candidate will complete at least 576 class hours or 48 trimester units of seminar work. It is necessary that all courses be taken consecutively; exceptions can be made only with the permission of the Candidate Progression Committee. Both psychoanalytic theory and clinical issues and technique are studied each year as the Candidate advances through the curriculum. Courses in psychoanalytic theory ground the Candidate in Freud's writings, introduce the various developments of psychoanalysis in Object Relations, the Kleinian School, American Psychoanalysis, and include studies in neuroses and psychoses, narcissistic and borderline states, and other psychopathologies and their diagnoses. Three trimesters of Infant Observation Seminar are included in the first year. Differential diagnoses relative to the various psychopathologies are taught in all classes, particularly Perversions, Psychoses, and Trauma and Narcissism. By the third year, clinical conferences comprise half the curriculum (each Candidate is expected to make two control case presentations of six sessions each during the last two years). Post Seminar Candidates who have satisfactorily completed the regular curriculum courses (or seminars) prior to graduation are called Post Seminar Candidates. Every trimester Post Seminar Candidates maintain affiliation with the Institute by paying tuition and by participating in at least one of the following during one trimester of each academic year. 1. Attending an elective theoretical course (which may be prepared by students or scheduled by the Institute); 2. Attending an elective clinical case seminar; 3. Co-teaching with a Faculty member in the regular curriculum; 4. Teaching in the Extension Program; 5. Conducting a research project which is certified by both the Candidate Progression Committee and Research Committee; 6. Taking or repeating a regular curriculum course if a suitable elective course is not available and after consultation with the Curriculum Committee and the members of the regular class. All requirements of training in the Core Program and the Research Psychoanalysis Program are to be completed within 8 years from the beginning of training. Although not a formal requirement of training, all Candidates are encouraged to participate in the Continuing Education and Extension programs sponsored by the Psychoanalytic Center of California for the mental health community, including the yearly Clinical Affiliate's Scientific Meeting -- a Candidate sponsored event. Candidates are further encouraged to submit papers to the Research Committee for the annual James A. Gooch Essay Contest, established in June 1990 to honor the Founding President of PCC. An essay prize was chosen in keeping with Dr. Gooch's conviction of the importance of written work in developing Candidates' capacities for thinking. The deadline for submission of essays for the James A. Gooch Essay Contest is December 1st. Supervised Psychoanlyses After completion of two trimesters (8) units of theoretical training, the Candidate may apply to the Candidate Progression Committee to begin supervised clinical work. All supervision undertaking must be approved by the Candidate Progression Committee. In addition, the Candidate must submit to the committee a written descriptive report of each proposed control case, and receive written permission to undertake it. The Candidate is to meet with the supervisor to discuss the case before arrangements for psychoanalysis are made with the patient, and the supervisor will provide to the Progression Committee his or her assessment of the patient's suitability for analysis. The Candidate must have at least three case supervised by three different supervising psychoanalysts chosen from the program's faculty. No supervisor may be the Candidate's personal analyst. With permission of the Candidate Progression Committee and the regular supervisor, a Candidate may seek supervision with a second supervisor if the first supervisor is away or otherwise unavailable. In certain cases, Candidates may change supervisors after requesting written permission from the Candidate Progression Committee. It is expected that a major part of the Candidate's supervision will be conducted while he or she is still undergoing personal analysis. In the analyses being supervised there should be sessions of 4 to 5 times per week, on the basis of no more than one session per day, and each session should last 45 to 50 minutes each. Each case must have a minimum of 50 hours of supervision on a one-hour-per-week basis. Two cases must continue in supervision for two years with a frequency of supervisory sessions of once per week during the first 50 hours; after the first 50 hours, the frequency of supervision is agreed upon between the Candidate and Supervisor. A total of 200 hours of supervision is considered a minimum to attain the aims of supervision. It is desirable that one case be supervised through the closing phase, and the Candidate must have analysands of each sex under supervision. Two of the three supervised cases must be adults. A third case may be a child or adolescent, reviewed by ICAC and supervised by an Infant, Child and Adolescent Supervising Analyst. Since it is the philosophy of the Psychoanalytic Center to emphasize the study of primitive mental states, including narcissistic or borderline, the Candidate is encouraged to treat one such patient on a five-times-per-week basis. Oral Examination, Final Paper and Graduation Sometime after the third year of training and before the Candidate starts a third control case, he or she is required to make an oral presentation of clinical work. The oral examination committee is composed of three senior or training analyst level faculty: two chosen by the Candidate and one chosen by the Progression Committee. The chair of the examination committee is chosen by the chair of the Progression Committee. One member of the committee may be a supervisor of the Candidate, though not of the case presented in the exam. The case must be an analytic case (4 or 5 times a week) and a case that well demonstrates the Candidate's ability to conduct an analysis. Typed process notes are prepared for 3-4 sessions of current work, along with a one-page single-spaced history including dynamic formulation and diagnosis, for distribution to the examiners. The Candidate must write a final paper that demonstrates an understanding of psychoanalytic theory and technique or shows the application of this understanding to an allied field. The final paper committee is composed of three members of the faculty. The Candidate chooses a Chair and one additional member and the third member is chosen by the Candidate Progression Committee. After satisfactory conclusion of all aspects of the training program, the Candidate shall apply to the Candidate Progression Committee in writing for permission of graduate. The Candidate will have experienced a minimum of 776 direct contact hours in the course of completing the core program (576 seminar hours; 200 supervision hours), in addition to his or her hour of training analysis. A Certificate in Adult Psychoanalysis or Research Psychoanalysis will be granted, along with the Doctorate of Philosophy in Psychoanalysis if this program has been completed. Application for Active membership in the Psychoanalytic Center of California (Society) and International Psychoanalytical Association may then be made. |