Institute for Psychoanalytic Studies & Subjective Research (IPSSR)

The Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity (IPSS) is a psychoanalytic training institute in New York City, founded in 1987 ^[1][8]. It offers a four-year certificate program in psychoanalysis together with shorter one-year programs, with a curriculum centered on self psychology, intersubjective systems theory, and infant research alongside Freudian, object relations, and relational traditions ^[6][7]. The institute is listed by the New York State Education Department Office of the Professions as an approved entity for the provision of professional services and is an institutional member of the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (IAPSP) ^[2][9].

History

According to the institute’s own account, IPSS was established in 1987 by four psychoanalysts — George Atwood, James Fosshage, Frank Lachmann, and Robert Stolorow — who sought to found an institute that avoided what they described as the rigid and doctrinaire aspects of traditional training and the conventions maintained for the benefit of institutes rather than candidates ^[8]. Three of the four had trained at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health in New York City, and Beatrice Beebe and Bernard Brandchaft subsequently joined the founding faculty group ^[8]. The founders agreed on the name "Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity" ^[8].

Although each founding faculty member had been influenced by self psychology and its intersubjective turn, the institute states that its plan was to teach a curriculum encompassing all psychoanalytic theories; in the first year, the object relations course was taught by Steve Mitchell and the Freud course by Martin Bergmann ^[8]. Courses in Infant Research, Comparative Intersubjectivity, and Psychotic States were added by the founding faculty, as was a course entitled "The Field of Psychoanalysis," in which candidates select notable contributors to the field for full-day seminars ^[8]. The founders also instituted "Town Meetings" at which faculty and candidates exchange ideas and plans ^[8].

Institutional collaborations described by IPSS include joint meetings with the Vienna Circle for Self Psychology, including a New York meeting in 2010 and a Vienna meeting in 2013; co-sponsored conferences in Sicily with institutes in Rome, Canada, and Los Angeles; a first one-year online training for psychologists in South Africa in 2012–13; a 2013 event co-sponsored with the Sandor Ferenczi Center at the New School; and a conference jointly conceived with the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis ^[8]. The Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies Program was launched in 2012 ^[5].

Training programs

• Four-Year Psychoanalytic Training Program — leads to a certificate in psychoanalysis, combining coursework, supervised clinical practice, and personal analysis ^[6].
• Foundations of Psychoanalysis — a one-year online certificate program of weekly courses and clinical case seminars for clinicians holding a graduate degree in a mental health field ^[7].
• Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies Program — a one-year, online program of 24 classes for experienced clinicians, many of whom have already completed psychoanalytic training ^[5].
• Explorations in Psychoanalysis — presentations and group discussions held through the academic year, open to candidates and to the public ^[10][11].

The institute states that its programs are designed for qualified psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and nurses whose interest in psychoanalysis includes scholarship and theory development as well as clinical practice ^[12].

Classes in the four-year program take place live online via Zoom and are not recorded; for candidates and instructors in the New York City area, a class may be held in an instructor’s office while including Zoom participants ^[6]. The program is organized in three trimesters per year, with first- and second-year coursework covering self psychology, Freud, Kleinian theory, intersubjectivity, and development, and later years covering interpersonal and relational theory, field theory, trauma and affect, dreams, and cultural dimensions of subjectivity ^[6][13]. The "Field of Psychoanalysis" course is held on four Saturdays, two in the third year and two in the fourth, and counts as the equivalent of one class in two trimesters of each of those years ^[6].

Requirements for graduation from the four-year program are ^[6]:

• Clinical practice with three patients three times per week, with 200 hours of supervision.
• 300 hours of personal analysis at three times per week.
• A psychoanalytic paper of publishable quality.

Of the 200 supervision hours, 160 must concern the candidate’s own three-times-weekly cases and 40 may be spent discussing other cases; supervision is undertaken with three different supervisors, who may be drawn from the IPSS faculty or chosen by the candidate provided they have completed a certificate psychoanalytic training program and have five years of post-completion experience ^[6]. Candidates studying remotely from outside New York State receive "educational consultation" on their three-times-weekly cases ^[6]. Personal analysis takes place over a two- to three-year period concurrent with coursework and supervision ^[6]. The institute notes that candidates are free to choose any analyst or supervisor who has been a graduate of a psychoanalytic institute for at least five years ^[8].

The Foundations program consists of two classes each Wednesday evening from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm across 34 weeks, taught live on Zoom, with an optional 20 hours of low-cost supervisory consultation ^[7]. Its sequence begins with traditional Freudian theory and the fundamentals of self psychology before addressing contemporary intersubjectivity theory, trauma, substance abuse treatment, and American relational theory ^[7]. The Advanced program meets on Mondays from September to June, with cohorts capped at nine students and case presentations encouraged in all classes ^[5][14].

Admissions

• Applicants to the four-year program must be licensed mental health professionals — psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, or nurses ^[6].
• Applications for the four-year, Foundations, and Advanced programs are due by July 15 for the following academic year ^[5][6][7].
• Required materials for the four-year program include transcripts of all graduate work, proof of professional liability insurance, the current analyst’s vita where applicable, and three letters of recommendation ^[6].

In special instances, professionals with scholarly achievement in allied fields are considered for admission to the four-year program and receive a letter of attendance on satisfactory completion ^[6]. After all materials are received, applicants are interviewed by the Coordinator of Admissions and two members of the training program’s Coordinating Committee ^[6]. The four-year application checklist also asks for undergraduate and graduate transcripts, a copy of the applicant’s New York State license, a malpractice insurance certificate, the prospective training analyst’s vita, and a one-page personal statement ^[15]. A training analyst must be licensed, a graduate of a recognized psychoanalytic training program, and have at least five years of post-graduate experience ^[16][15].

Tuition and fees

• Four-year program (as described by the institute in January 2025): tuition of $500.00 per course, paid per trimester, with fees that may vary with class size ^[6].
• Four-year program ancillary charges: an annual registration fee of $250.00, a final fee of $300.00 at graduation, and supervisory or educational consultant fees of $75.00 paid directly to the supervisor ^[6].
• Foundations of Psychoanalysis (2025–26 sequence): tuition of $2,400.00 for the whole sequence plus a $75.00 administrative fee; courses are not offered individually ^[7].
• Foundations supervisory consultations: 20 hours offered at $50 per session ^[7].
• Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies Program (cohort beginning September 2026): tuition of $1,800 for the year, payable in two installments, 50% due August 1, 2026 and 50% due December 30, 2026 ^[5].
• Application fees: $60.00 non-refundable for the four-year program and $55.00 non-refundable for the Foundations program ^{[4][17][6][7]}.

Candidates in the four-year program are not charged the annual registration fee while completing their final paper, and arrange and pay for their own personal psychoanalysis ^[6]. Application fees may be paid by Zelle or check ^[4][17]. The institute states that financial assistance is available to students in the Advanced program living in economically distressed regions, and that it is committed to offering financial aid to admitted candidates with financial need, with scholarships also available to qualified candidates who may bring a diversity of experience or perspective ^[5][18].

Public programs and continuing education

The Explorations in Psychoanalysis series presents original papers by faculty or recent graduates and is open to the wider community ^[11][8]. Events have carried continuing education credit for social workers and licensed mental health counselors: a January 2025 presentation on misophonia, held at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Services Center in Manhattan, carried 2 CE credits with a $55 entry fee, and a May 2025 event carried 2.0 CE credits ^[19][20]. The institute also holds open houses; it reported that its first open house of 2025 took place on March 20 of that year, and it scheduled a March 2026 social and open house in Manhattan and a virtual open house for June 18, 2026 ^[21][22][18].

Faculty and governance

• Coordinating Committee — the body whose members interview applicants to the four-year program and which includes faculty members ^[6][18].
• Executive Committee — a governing body on which faculty serve ^[23].
• Curriculum Committee — directed by Deborah Sherman, BC-DMT, LMHC ^[23].
• Program directorships — Amy Joelson, LCSW is Director of Distance Learning and Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies Program Director; Dayna Sharp, LCSW is Advanced Program Coordinator; David Witten, LCSW is Foundations of Psychoanalysis Program Director; Peter Kaufmann, Ph.D. is co-coordinator of the four-year program ^[23][5][7].

The founding faculty comprises George Atwood, Beatrice Beebe, Bernard Brandchaft (1916–2013), James Fosshage, Frank M. Lachmann, and Robert D. Stolorow ^[23][8]. The current faculty listing names roughly twenty core faculty members together with additional and guest faculty, and the institute maintains a "Field of Psychoanalysis" guest faculty roster ^[23]. A number of faculty also teach at other New York institutes, including the National Institute for the Psychotherapies, the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy, the William Alanson White Institute, the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center, and the Training Institute for Mental Health ^[23].

Affiliations and accreditation

• New York State Education Department Office of the Professions — listed as an approved entity under waiver number 399 ^[2].
• International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (IAPSP) — institutional member ^[9].

The NYSED listing records the institute at 71 W 23rd St., Suite 1400, New York, NY 10010, with telephone (212) 489-1534, and covers professional services offered by qualified individuals in licensed master social work, licensed clinical social work, licensed mental health counseling, licensed marriage and family therapy, licensed creative arts therapy, licensed behavior analysis, licensed psychoanalysis, and psychology ^[2]. The waiver period shown on that listing ran from March 30, 2021 to March 31, 2024 ^[2].

Finances

A business directory profile of the institute reports annual revenue of approximately $252,065 and three employees ^[1]. The same profile describes IPSS as a clinical training and educational seminar institute headquartered in New York City and lists offices at 250 West 57th Street, Suite 501, and at 71 West 23rd Street, Suite 1400 ^[1].