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This curriculum is the product of on-going work by the entire faculty and candidate groups as well as several working committees. We have developed a curriculum that is organized around the principle of critical thinking which begins with Freud’s foundations of psychoanalytic thinking and then builds on that foundation to contemporary thinking about the central concepts of psychoanalysis. The curriculum takes account of the growing theoretical and clinical diversity of our own Institute, American psychoanalysis and the influence of our increasingly connected international community. The core curriculum is arranged into four tracks; Theory, Clinical, Development, and Psychoanalytic Studies.

Through a coherent focus on an integrated and clinically relevant program of seminars we have emphasized the basic concepts of psychoanalysis in the first year, with subsequent years broadening to include other branches in the development of current psychoanalytic thinking. In addition, the second, third and fourth years allow for more choices through the addition of an elective seminar in each year. In the elective seminar, candidates may choose their preference from several courses, thereby providing an opportunity for more in depth study of various aspects of theory, technique, and applied psychoanalysis. These selections will change from year to year, providing for the greatest range of choice. The seminar year includes a week in the Fall of intensive seminars with a Visiting Professor, and three weeks in the Spring of an Intersession in which a topic in applied psychoanalysis is studied with experts in that field invited to present their work. In the fifth year, candidates will participate in a preceptorship seminar on psychoanalytic writing, and each candidate will write a psychoanalytic paper for completion of that course and for graduation.

Electives are seminars that present subjects of special interest not otherwise offered in the core curriculum. Candidates in the second, third, and fourth seminar year are required to take one Elective seminar per year. In the 2007-2008 academic year, there will be three Elective classes offered during the Elective block (Jan. 4 to Feb. 29). Candidates in the fourth year, followed by those in the second and third years, will have priority in choosing which Elective class they take. Post-seminar candidates as well as faculty may also request assignment to an Elective, or give preferences regarding Electives they would like to take. Class size will be limited. Any particular Elective may or may not be given for more than one year, depending on the availability of the instructor and the interest of the candidates.

Electives
7 sessions
Friday 8:00 – 9:45 a.m.
January 8 – Febuary 26, 2010

The seminar serves as a writing group for the discussion of individual papers, and of issues relating to writing for psychoanalytic journals. Candidates will be helped to prepare and present a draft of a paper, and to read and discuss (each other’s) papers from the perspective of an editorial board.

It is helpful to begin thinking about the paper early in the training. A seminar in the 3rd year will provide an opportunity to discuss possible topics and become acquainted with the various formats of psychoanalytic papers.

Candidates are encouraged to seek individual consultation on their papers early on from faculty members or other analytic writers. The seminar leader can help with suggestions for consultants. The seminar focuses on developing the ability to write about psychoanalytic concepts and process. The paper should not be merely a case report or a literature review. It should address a topic that is alive to the candidate and contributes to the wide range of psychoanalytic dialogue including theoretical issues, clinical phenomena, or applications of
psychoanalytic ideas to other fields such as literature, film, art, or music.

The seminar leader will determine when the paper has met the standard for graduation. Candidates are often encouraged to make revisions to meet the seminar expectations.
Candidates aiming to graduate in the same year as the
seminar are asked to have a draft completed by February 15, 2010 and obtain final approval of the seminar leaders by April 15, 2010. Candidates who, for some reason, are not planning to take the seminar in the 5th year should notify the office in early September 2009.

A candidate with extensive psychoanalytic writing and
publication experience can apply for a waiver. The candidate will still be asked, however, to present a recent work or work in progress at the seminar and to be a discussant. Even if a candidate is a well-experienced writer, it is recommended
that he or she would take this opportunity to generate new work and make a contribution to colleagues by being part of the writing group.

There are two routes to becoming a child and adolescent analyst. The traditional route is for those already accepted into the adult training program. The Child Focus candidates are accepted into SFCP as child candidates only.

Both groups of candidates take the seminars with the adult candidates for years 1 and 2 of their training. In year 2, weekly child seminars are added. In years 3 and 4, Child Focus candidates need not take all of the adult program seminars. All child candidates will take weekly child seminars in years 3 and 4. All child candidates take three years of child case conferences. The child-adult case conference contributes to this requirement. All candidates take the Preceptorship seminar and write a psychoanalytic paper.

Didactic Seminar 2009-2010, Thursdays 8:00 – 9:45
(and occasional Saturdays)

This year offers candidates an exposure to several Kleinian analysts making use of teleconferencing. Anne Alvarez, Mirta Oelsner and Robert Oelsner will cover a comparison of the concepts of defense in childhood from neo-Kleinian, Bionian, Contemporary Ego Psychology and Object Relations perspectives.
We will also reexamine a number of aspects of the concept of defense - looking at the uses of adaptation, addiction, autistic and narcissistic processes in children. We will reconsider diagnostic categories in children and adolescence with attention to different ways of clinically addressing neurotic, borderline and psychotic functioning.

Jill Miller will bring her expertise from her training at the Anna Freud Center as well as her current thinking about analytic treatment of children with developmental disorders, and neurological and learning disorders.

Later seminars this year will cover analytic treatment of adolescents, taught by Maureen Katz. She will consider the assessment of whether depressed-appearing adolescents need help with the developmental task of mourning or are in need of another kind of help because of more serious depression. She will discuss working intensively with adolescents who are getting ready to leave for college but who are not quite ready psychologically. This will include the question of working with the parents of adolescents.

As reading lists are made available, they will be sent to the office.

Because the size of this class needed to be limited by the number of people who could fit around a computer camera, we admitted members in the following order: current and new child candidates, then people considering becoming child candidates, then child faculty members.

We also are offering a second year of our monthly pre-analytic/introductory child course: Introduction to Child Analysis II 2009-2010

This year we pursue the comparison of theoretical orientations to child analysis as we read contemporary literature. We will focus on the manifestations of aggression in children - both adaptive and pathologiclal aspects. Participants are encouraged to bring in clinical material from their cases. The faculty will make use of their analytic cases as well.

This class is open to SFCP candidates and members, and IPA-trained analysts, who are considering becoming child candidates. It is also open to child therapists who are interested in becoming child analysts through SFCP’s new Child Focus training program.

Faculty: Jan Baeuerlen, M.D., Tina Lapides, M.S.W.