Eitingon

French

Uruguayan

1. 

Intellectual Rationale

Based on the tri-partite concept of education: analysis, supervisions and a didactic theoretical element of courses and seminars. 

To become an analyst requires analysis, didactic curriculum and supervised analytic experience.  Analysis is an integral component of training and within its auspices.  Experience in the analysis is seen as linked to what the candidate would be ready and able to experience when conducting analysis.

Based on the tri-partite concept of education: analysis, supervisions and a didactic theoretical element of courses and seminars. 

Analysis, while a required component of the training process, is strictly outside the boundaries of the training.  There is no "training analysis" and no "training analyst".  Analysis can be with any IPA Member.  It is a most important step in clarifying and working out the candidate’s motivation to become an analyst.

Based on the tri-partite concept of education: analysis, supervisions and a didactic theoretical element of courses and seminars. 

The model derives from a concern over and reaction to the previous concentration of power; an attempt to make training more free and equitable.  There is not individual training analyst status.  There is a transparency and equality of different functions and groups involved in training.  Psychoanalysis is a conjectural, not an exact science.  What is transmitted is a capacity to listen, an efficacy of the unconscious, vicissitudes of self, and an endless passion for psychoanalysis.

2. 

Philosophy of Psychoanalytic Education (immersion, qualifying, graduating)

The analysis aims at dealing with defence structures, overcoming resistances, exposing and analyzing neurotic transferences, infantile material, gaining conviction about primitive mental states, de-idealizing the analyst and the profession.  This requires asintensive an immersion as possible in analysis, 3-5 times a week.  Similarly, a candidate's experience in conducting analysis should also be as intensive as possible, i.e., 3-5 times a week.  The capacity for continued self-analysis is an ideal, intended goal.  A candidate needs to develop sustained courage for this.

Immersion requirements: numerical requirements exist, but it is doubtful how useful they are for evaluating individual growth.  Requirements should be more individualized.

The best tool for evaluating readiness to graduate is the collective opinion of supervisors. 

In Europe: the presentation of a case to some forum is required (training analysts, another Institute, a committee) that evaluates and decides. 

In the USA and Latin America: some Institutes require a final case presentation.

The analysis goes on before admission to training.  Frequency is not determined extrinsically but intrinsically (usually 3-4 times a week) between the analyst and the candidate, and depends on clinical indications.

The admission interview assesses the qualityof analytical process undergone.  Requirements emphasize unconscious contents and dynamics, e.g., flexibility of mental functioning, Oedipus, passivity & bisexuality, Apres-Coup, infantile neurosis, introjection of analytic function, negative capacity, etc. 

Defence analysis is considered "too psychotherapeutic". 

Supervision is regarded as the process that makes the candidate an analyst.  Emphasis is on deep analytic listening – to patient material, and that of the candidate. 

The supervisor plays an essential and equal part in evaluation and validation – s/he presents the case to the evaluating group. 

Only Full Members of Societies can do supervision.

For the analysis considerable immersion is required in terms of length: 3 1/2 years prior to candidate admission (with an IPA analyst), and another 5 years (concurrent with the duration of training) after starting at the Institute (with an analyst member of Analysis Group).

This allows for full immersion and regression within the analytic setting, and for mature functioning vis-à-vis the institution.

Frequency is at a minimum of 3 times a week, with periods of greater intensity and regression of up to 5 times a week.  This is recommended practice, decided entirely between the analyst and the candidate.  No authorization is required from the analyst, there is no required number of hours. 

The analyst informs the Institute of the start of the analysis and then only if the analysis is terminated unilaterally during training.

Evaluation is done on the basis of written notes of seminars; written sessions of supervision; a (Masters thesis) of a case analysis with theoretical elaboration.  Final evaluation is by the teaching committee, based on the entire record, presented and discussed to the entire Institute when the candidate grants permission.

Regression anticipated in analysis but confined to it; institute training conducted along university lines, adopting mature, non-regressive stance.

3. Psychoanalytic Process Underlying Educational Processes

The training analysis should accompany and overlap with the control cases.  However, due to non-reporting, the duration of the analysis is not controlled.  Many Institutes require to be notified when an analysis is terminated or interrupted.

The educational process is conceived in psychoanalytic terms, not in ordinary "professional training" terms or approach.  This starts with the place accorded to the analysis and the fact that it is the basis and focus of the admission interview.  It continues with supervision which partakes of in-depth listening, intervention and evaluation; and finally the seminar work, which aims at personal growth more than theoretical mastery.

The analysis requires possibilities, time and space for regression.

The educational process – seminars, courses and supervision – is modeled on the free academic or university approach: periodic written work is required and evaluated; candidates enjoy a wide choice of seminars and leaders.  The final graduation paper is equivalent of an Masters thesis.

The emphasis is on developing capacity for psychoanalytic listening.

4. 

Breadth vs. Depth of Exposure

Breadth: many Institutes offer a wide variety and separate theoretical tracks, preferring wide exposure.  Some feel this reflects divisions in the faculty, and might lead to fragmentation and confusion. 

There is a seemingly wide agreement on the desirability of core Freudian conflict theory, deferring others to later. 

There is a re-awakened interest in Freud in some quarters.

There is a general emphasis on Freud.  Beyond this, freedom of courses and seminars is offered and freedom to select from them.  Not a university type of teaching, but transmission by the teacher of his/her model and the expectation that the candidate will develop his/her own.  There are certain variations among countries with additional theoreticians offered, but generally depth is preferred to width.

There is a wide spectrum of theoretical offering, to combat its becoming narrow and dogmatic.  It is intended that there is no opposition between depth and width of perspectives.  This theoretical pluralism is not opposed to depth but to encyclopaedic knowledge that tries to synthesize all existing theories (i.e., it opposes leveling of theoretical differences).  Candidates are free to choose, teachers, and to select seminars and courses.

5. 

Issues of Power, Authority & Authorization

Authority is vested in the Education Committee, with varying degrees but with an increase of candidates' representation.  The Training Analyst status and power is a wide spread issue and concern.  It has become more democratic, people may propose themselves, but it still creates a two-tier system, introducing strain.  Many maintain that the TA should not be a status or life-time appointment but a function. 

There is conflict around the dispersion of power: greater democracy is evident, but there are many questions about its effects (e.g., "pluralism and democracy have become buzz words for anything goes"; "difference between secrecy and confidentiality – democracy has certain limits in a psychoanalytic society."

The Training Committee is in the Psychoanalytic Society, to which it is democratically answerable. 

There is no independent Institute. 

There is progressive levelling of the hierarchy due to the abandonment of the "training analyst" function.  Teaching roles are also open to members of different statuses.  There is a movement towards gradual democratization.

The basis of the educational system is an attempt to guard against a concentration of power and to safeguard its dispersion.

The structure is mindful of transference complications, idealizations, and narcissistic passions.

Nurturing should come from differences and avoid imitation and mimesis.

Different training functions are organized as “groups”, not as an individual status or function.  The groups are: Admissions Group, Supervision Group, Teaching Group, and Analysis Group, each of which is charged with conducting one specific aspect of training.  Analysts request admission to any one of them, but can be members of only one group at a time.

The Education Committee reflects this structure in its composition.

Eitingon

French

Uruguayan

PRE-ADMISSION

REQUIREMENTS

A. The applicant must have a university degree and meet local legal requirements for clinical work.

B. The applicant should present evidence of integrity, honesty, maturity, flexibility, and capacity for self observation.

C. For the personal analysis see below.

A. The applicant must have a university degree and meet local legal requirements for clinical work.

B. The personal analysis takes place entirely, or mostly, before admission to training.

Personal analysis can be with any IPA member. (Some exceptions can be taken into consideration). Frequency (three or more weekly sessions) and duration are determined strictly within the analytic relationship.

A. The applicant must have a university degree and meet local legal requirements for clinical work.

B. A minimum of one and a half years of personal analysis must have been undergone, with a psychoanalyst from the Group of Psychoanalysts of the Institute, with a frequency of at least three sessions a week. The personal analysis must be in progress at the time of application. (This applies also to applicants from abroad).

ADMISSION

A. Admission procedures may vary, but usually the applicant is asked to interview with three different analysts who are members of the Admission Committee.

B. The interviewers’ reports are discussed by the entire Admissions Committee.

C. A recommendation is made to the Education Committee which makes the final decision.

A. Applicants must have at least three in-depth interviews with at least three different Training Analysts, recognised by the Constituent Organisation as competent to evaluate candidates. Each interview assesses the quality and the depth of the analytical process undergone.

B. The final decision takes place in the Training Committee: the applicant’s interviews are presented by the Training Analysts who met him/her, and are discussed in depth with all the Training Committee. The Committee must include more members than just those who conducted the interviews.

A. Applicants must have at least two admission interviews conducted by different members of the Admissions Committee.

B. The full Admissions Committee makes the final decisions based on the recommendations from the admission interviews.

PERSONAL ANALYSIS

A. The personal, or training analysis, is an essential aspect of psychoanalytic education. It should preferably begin some time before the candidate begins classes.

B. It accompanies the course of candidacy. It aims to help the candidate achieve a high degree of character stability, openness, flexibility, and maturity, and to develop the capacities which are necessary for maintaining an open and creative psychoanalytic stance.

C. This personal analysis is to be conducted by a Training Analyst approved by the Institute responsible for the psychoanalytic education of the candidate. The candidate must be in analysis with a Training Analyst for a substantial period of time that overlaps with the supervised casework.

D. The analysis is private and confidential.

E. The personal analysis of a candidate must be conducted at a minimum of four times a week until termination.

(See Pre-Admission Requirements above.)

(See Pre-Admission Requirements above.) Following admission, the personal analysis must be conducted concurrently with the didactic and supervised aspects of the training.

CURRICULUM AND THEORETICAL SEMINARS

The didactic curriculum is a scheduled series of seminars over a period of four or five years or a minimum of 450 hours. Although the titles and timing of seminars vary among Institutes, the curriculum is usually organized to include the following subject matters:

1. Psychoanalytic Treatment Situation and Technique

2. Psychoanalytic Theory

3. Psychopathology

4. Development

5. Continuous Case Seminars and Clinical Conferences

6. Electives

A. Emphasis is on the study of the complete works of Freud, considered as the basis of the theoretical training.

B. Seminars are organised by the Training Committee. Candidates can choose the seminars they want, but basic seminars are obligatory: metapsychology, theory of technique, and at least one clinical seminar.

A. Curricular seminars are conducted by a Full Trainer.

B. The focus is on basic concepts of psychoanalysis established in the works of Sigmund Freud and later developments, with the aim of considering the wide variety of current psychoanalytic approaches.

C. Candidates can participate in planning theoretical courses by choosing seminars.

D. In agreement with the Group of Didactic Functions, the Training Committee is entitled to suspend the training of a candidate.

E. The number of seminars and the curriculum is prepared by the Didactic Group and the Training Committee (Institute) and approved in outline by the General Assembly of the Constituent Organisation.

SUPERVISED ANALYTIC CASES

A. The Education Committee of the Institute (or its functional equivalent) is responsible for evaluating the candidate's readiness to begin supervised analytic work.

B. The candidate should be supervised by at least two different accredited Supervising Analysts.

C. At least two cases (some Institutes require three cases), both male and female, are required. At least one of the analysands should have reached mid-phase in their analysis and it is preferable that one case should be near termination prior to the candidate’s graduation.

D. Training Analysts will not supervise their own analysand at any time during the candidacy.

E. Generally, weekly supervision is appropriate, although less frequent supervision may be suitable for some candidates. Candidates should have at least 150 hours of supervision before being graduated.

F. The candidate must meet with the patient, in person, at a frequency of four or five times per week on separate days, until termination.

A. Supervisions are regarded as an essential part of the training process.

B. At least two cases of psychoanalytical treatment of adults with two different supervisors are required. One of these supervisions can be or must be group supervision, according to the chosen option of the particular Constituent Organisation.

C. Candidates choose their supervisors from among the recognised members of the Training Committee. The personal analyst cannot be a supervisor.

D. The frequency of sessions (three or more) for a supervised analysis is based on the considerations of the supervisor and supervisee and depends on clinical indications.

E. Each supervision, individual or group, has to continue for a minimum of three years with a frequency of once a week. Intermediate evaluations of supervisions are conducted by the Training Committee.

A. Supervisions must be concurrent with the personal analysis and theoretical seminars, and begin after completion of four courses in basic Freudian concepts.

B. Supervised practice consists of the supervision of two adult patients working in analysis with a frequency of at least three sessions a week.

C. Supervision is by a member of Group of Supervisors chosen by the candidate. Supervisions are held weekly for each analysis for at least two years without any interruptions.

D. Each supervised case must be approved by a Supervisor and by the Supervisors Group to which it is submitted.

QUALIFYING

(Requirements for Graduation.)

Criteria:

A. Successful completion of didactic courses of at least 450 hours.

B. At least 150 hours of supervision, on at least two analytic cases.

C. Supervisors' reports agreeing to the competence of the candidate to conduct analyses.

D. All required writing assignments have been completed and found satisfactory.

E. There are no unresolved legal or ethical problems concerning patient care.

F. All financial obligations to the Institute have been met.

G. Membership in the local Constituent Organisation is open to all colleagues who have graduated and have no legal or ethical complaints against them.

A. The final evaluation is a different step from the election as a Member (or an Associate Member) of the Constituent Organisation.

B. Evaluation of candidates is the responsibility of the Training Committee. Supervisors and seminar leaders report on the evolution of each candidate. Intermediate evaluations are also taken into consideration. Each committee organises the evaluation of the candidate in order to best evaluate the candidate’s capacity to undertake independent psychoanalytic treatment: to maintain the frame, to understand the analytical process, to appreciate the evolution of the transference and counter-transference, and to formulate interpretations.

C. The evolution of the supervision process is considered to be the determining element for qualification. Capacity to integrate analytical theory is also taken into consideration.

D. Once the candidate’s training is recognized, the candidate is no longer under the auspices of the Training Committee.

E. Election as a Member (or an Associate Member) of the Constituent Organisation is the next step, in accordance with the statutes of each Constituent Organisation. At that time, he/she automatically becomes a Member of the IPA.

A. The candidate submits a written request to become a Member (or an Associate Member) of the Constituent Organisation.

B. After approval of seminars taken, supervised experience including all written assignments, and the submission of a theoretical-clinical paper giving evidence of articulation of psychoanalytic theory with practice, is evaluated by five members appointed for this by the Training Committee. The committee also considers compliance with strict observance of psychoanalytic norms and ethics.

C. The successful candidate is proposed to the General Assembly of the Constituent Organisation to become a Member (or an Associate Member).

STRUCTURE OF TRAINING FUNCTIONS

See IPA Procedural Code entry on Requirements for the Appointment of Training Analysts and Interim Training Analysts.

The training analysts have the responsibility for the selection, supervision and organization of theoretical and clinical seminars, and the intermediate and final evaluations of candidates. They are elected by their Constituent Organisation for these functions.

A. The Group of Didactic Functions carries out all the training activities in coordination with the Training Committee. It consists of three subgroups:

1. Group of Psychoanalysts – responsible for personal analyses of candidates and would-be candidates.

2. Group of Supervisors – responsible for supervised cases and assessing written reports.

3. Group of Trainers – responsible for curriculum and seminars, including the collation and review of evaluations of candidates by different training groups.

B. All training groups have research and organizational tasks as well, and attendance in regular meetings is mandatory.

C. Members (and Associate Members) can apply and join Didactic Groups provided they meet the rules and standards of the Training Committee and the specific training group.