Psychoanalytic Training

Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center (PPC) offers a very individualized program (5-10 years) that consists of course work primarily offered on weekends and in the evenings. Many of our candidates (referring to students in the program) are accomplished professionals with full-time careers.  PPC provides in-depth training to psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other mental health professionals. PPC offers the only psychoanalytic training program in Western Pennsylvania that is accredited by the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Three Components to the Training

• The training analysis (every  clihnical candidate participates in psychoanalysis to gain better insight into themselves) 
• Coursed instruction in psychoanalysis (theory, technique, writing and electives)
• Supervised clinical work

For more information on courses and the education program, including the Candidate Bulletin contact administration@pghpsa.org or call (412) 661-4224.

If you are unable to commit to the full schedule of standard Candidate training, but would like to further your persuit of psychoanalytic training, then our Pre-Matriculation program might be a good option.

(See the information below)

Deadline for applications: June 3rd

What is Psychoanalysis and who does Psychoanalysis?

• in-depth psychotherapeutic technique
• 3 to 5 treatment sessions per week
• In treatment, current day conflicts and symptoms come to be understood in terms of their historical roots, and present anxieties are explored and understood as residues from the past.  Through the individual's intensive exploration of her/his personality and character development, a greater degree of self-realization and understanding can be achieved.
• Treatment is carried out by psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and other highly trained mental health professionals who have completed an accredited psychoanalytic training program.
• Psychoanalysis is an endeavor which aims to reduce suffering and mental anguish, achieve greater fulfillment and meaning in life, and ultimately, change one's psychological fate.

Facts about Psychoanalysis

• Psychoanalytic theory was developed by Sigmund Freud more than 120 years ago and has provided the foundation for multiple psychodynamic theories since that time.
• Although much has changed since Freud's pioneering work, his significant contributions to our understanding of human motivation and behavior has had a far-reaching impact on many disciplines, including science, history, religion, the arts, and indeed, all aspects of our culture.

What Kinds of Problems Bring Someone to Seek Psychoanalysis?

• Psychoanalysis is generally recommended for those whose recurrent emotional and behavioral problems cause significant distress in their work and interpersonal relationships, compromising their ability to enjoy life fully.

Individuals seeking treatment may exhibit symptoms and feelings of:

• anxiety and/or depression
• inhibitions, including underachievement
• interpersonal conflicts at home, work, and play

The aim of in-depth psychoanalytic exploration of personality and character development is to help individuals to develop understanding of, and to gain relief from, painful emotional experiences and crippling anxieties.

Outcomes of psychoanalytic treatment include:

• improved personal relationships
• increased productivity
• development of better coping skills
• greater control in one's life

Children and adolescents can often benefit from psychoanalysis when environmental interventions and other treatments directed are unsuccessful in reaching internalized conflicts and reducing emotional distress.  Psychoanalysis is often the treatment of choice where early trauma and developmental issues impede optimal growth, creating stress in the home and community.

What is the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center?

The Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center (PPC) is a nonprofit organization providing comprehensive training in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis.  PPC promotes education and research in accordance with standards of the American Psychoanalytic Association and is an advocate for psychoanalytic thought throughout the Western Pennsylvania area.

PPC offers:

• an accredited post-graduate training program in psychoanalysis
• continuing education programs for mental health professionals throughout the region
• low-fee evaluation and possible referral for reduced-fee psychoanalytic treatment for a limited number of people who would be otherwise unable to afford it

ON PRACTICING PSYCHOANALYSIS



"In today's social and intellectual climate, those who do devote themselves to the study and practice of analysis, and accept the sacrifices that the effort entails, do so out of an inner conviction that that is what they must do, that they would be uninspired or even bored with any discipline
that delved less deeply into the human psyche.  I am optimistic enough, romantic if you wish, to suppose that this ensures the future development of our field..."     Martin Stein

BEING SOMEONE'S PSYCHOANALYST...

doesn't require much tangible equipment - a couch, a clock, perhaps a note pad...and the power of an idea - the insight that emotional thoughts of which we are unaware can shape the way we encounter and handle life.  Our work, our loves, family relationships, self-esteem, creativity, physical well-being - can be determined by conceptions of our own that are beyond our awareness.

That one can believe something without knowing it and therefore mold one's existence around it can seem unbelievable. Yet those who discover this for themselves - who through this discovery gain relief of discomfort and increased clarity of purpose, who then can view their fellow
humans more profoundly may use this deeper understanding to help others. Psychoanalysts are such people.

STARTING TO WONDER ABOUT THINGS PSYCHOANALYSTS
WONDER ABOUT...

can begin at various points. It can emerge from the puzzle of one's own adolescence or from grappling with emotional problems in clinical practice. One may observe the demonstration of conflict in a skilled practitioner's interview, or may have grown up with it in the all too evident troubles of a family member.

IT IS LESS IMPORTANT...

how one comes by this interest than what becomes of it.
To the successful analyst a curiosity about the mind's operation is more than a transient absorption. It is the fascination of a lifetime.

WHEN WE PRACTICE PSYCHOANALYSIS...

we study the daily reported thoughts of another person and how they are affected by unconscious feelings toward us and by their unconscious avoidance of such feelings. As our understanding of our
patients grows, we say things to facilitate their further understanding of themselves. But our patients cannot comprehend their innermost depths without a struggle. Their inability to grasp the full import of our words is what accounts for the skill and patience required by the analytic
process.

TO THINK LIKE A PSYCHOANALYST...

involves the trained use of concepts of in-depth psychology such as unconscious fantasies, multi-determined patterns of behavior, transference, and countertransference -terms that are meaningful abstractions about the phenomena of mention. These have the same type of existence for the psychoanalyst as meaningful abstractions about the physical world - concepts such as light rays and planetary orbits - have for the physicist. The psychoanalyst must not only know the meaning, origin and history of such concepts - as can be gathered from reading and seminar discussion - but must have successfully used these concepts to heal another mind, the mind of a patient to whom has been made one of the most extensive and profound commitments that can be made between two people. This practical analytic ability must be demonstrated through case presentations, oral examinations, and written case studies.

Reprinted from "Studies in Psychoanalysis," Houston Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute

APSAA

TALKING POINTS ABOUT PSYCHOANALYSIS

A Psychoanalyst can help you...

1. Get relief from painful emotional symptoms.
2. Feel understood as a unique individual.
3. Achieve emotional freedom.
4. Improve your personal relationships.
5. Become more productive at work.
6. Take more pleasure from life.
7. Change lifelong ways of coping that just aren't working.
8. Understand feelings and behaviors that just don't make sense.
9. Gain greater control over your life.
10. Stop self-destructive patterns of behavior.
11. Understand yourself.
12. Prevent the past from interfering in the present.
13. Talk things over in a safe and private environment.
14. Unlock your creative potential. 

Developed by: Gail Saltz M.D.

Co-chair, Committee on Public Information