NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis (NYU Postdoc)

The NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, commonly known as Postdoc, is a psychoanalytic training program in New York City operating as a freestanding, non-credit program within the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) ^[3][4]. The program awards a Certificate in Postdoctoral Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and organizes its curriculum around four theoretical tracks — Contemporary Freudian, Interpersonal-Humanistic, Relational, and Independent ^[5][6]. According to the program, it was the first psychoanalytic training program to be fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education Inc. ^[3]. Its associated clinic has provided adult therapeutic services to the community since 1961 ^[7].

Training programs

• Psychoanalytic Training Program — the program’s principal offering, leading to certification in psychoanalysis and comprising coursework, supervised clinical work, and personal analysis ^[3][8].
• Certificate in Postdoctoral Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis — the credential listed by GSAS for the program ^[6].

The curriculum is organized into four orientations, or tracks, from which candidates may select courses; candidates are not required to affiliate with a single track ^[5].

• Contemporary Freudian Track — rooted in Freudian ideas as they have evolved, incorporating infant research, object relations, and international and developmental psychoanalysis ^[5][9].
• Interpersonal-Humanistic Track — grounded in the interpersonal tradition associated with Harry Stack Sullivan and in American pragmatism and humanism, emphasizing the direct engagement of analyst and patient ^[5][10].
• Relational Track — focused on processes of mutual influence in development and treatment, drawing on British object relations, American interpersonal psychoanalysis, self psychology, and Freudian ego psychology ^[5][11].
• Independent Track — organized around an educational philosophy of pluralism rather than a single school of thought, with an interdisciplinary emphasis ^[5][12].

Courses are grouped under broad areas of study identified by course numbers in the PDPSA-GA series, including Foundations of Psychoanalysis (4580), Clinical Case Seminars (4581), Clinical Treatment of Specific Disorders (4582), Psychoanalytic Theory and Technique (4585), Cultural, Political, and Spiritual Issues (4586), Gender and Sexuality (4587), and Development and Life Span Issues (4588) ^[13][14][15]. Courses are graded on a GSAS pass/fail basis ^[15]. Classes are held either at NYU’s Washington Square campus or in the private offices of faculty in Manhattan, at varied times through the week ^[16].

Certification requirements

• Coursework — 36 points, with a minimum of two points per semester ^[8]; candidates must take a minimum of six points from each of the three core categories (Foundations of Psychoanalysis, Theory and Technique, and Clinical Case Seminars), and are advised to take at least one course from each remaining category ^[17].
• Required first-year courses — an introductory seminar in contemporary psychoanalysis in the fall and an ethics course in the spring ^[17][8].
• Clinical work — treatment of two patients for 200 hours each, a total of 400 hours, under supervision and with patients provided through the program’s clinic ^[8].
• Clinical consultation — 160 hours with four clinical consultants, or with three consultants where 80 hours are completed with one of them ^[8].
• Personal analysis — 300 hours at a minimum of three sessions per week, each on a different day and of at least 45 minutes ^[16][8].

Candidates are expected to begin work with a clinic patient by the start of their second year and to continue until the 400-hour requirement is met ^[8]. Personal analysis must begin before work with a training case and run concurrently with at least one year of that treatment; the training analyst must have had five years of experience following graduation from an analytic training program ^[16][8]. Candidates are evaluated by faculty after each course and by clinical consultants after each supervisory experience, with progress monitored by the Progression Committee ^[8]. The program states that moderate-cost analysis is made available to candidates by many members of the faculty ^[16][8].

Admissions

• Two years of supervised individual adult psychotherapy experience ^[18].
• A completed doctoral degree in psychology, medicine, social work, or nursing ^[18].
• A license, or eligibility for a license, to practice in the field of the degree in New York State ^[18].
• Three letters of recommendation, from academic instructors, clinical supervisors, or employers; references from personal psychoanalysts are not accepted ^[6].
• A statement of academic purpose not exceeding two double-spaced pages, and a doctoral transcript ^[6].

Applications are submitted online through the GSAS application system and are considered for the fall semester only, with a deadline of March 1 ^[18][6]. The GRE general test is not required; TOEFL or IELTS scores are required of applicants who are not native English speakers, U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or graduates of institutions where the language of instruction is English ^[6]. The program states that accepted applications usually lead to at least two admission interviews ^[16].

Tuition and fees

Tuition and fees are set by the Graduate School of Arts and Science, and GSAS rates apply to the Postdoctoral Program ^[19][16]. As of the fall 2020 semester, the program stated that two points of coursework plus registration fees cost approximately $4,446 ^[19]. Thirty-six points must be completed to graduate ^[16]. The program states that scholarship aid is available to candidates at different levels of training ^[16].

Clinical services

The Clinic of the NYU Postdoctoral Program is the program’s clinical training facility and has provided adult therapeutic services since 1961 ^[7]. Fees are set on a sliding scale based on ability to pay, and patients must be New York State residents aged at least 21; the clinic does not accept individuals requiring urgent or emergency care ^[7]. Services offered are:

• Contemporary Psychoanalysis — sessions three to four times per week for approximately two years, provided by candidates who hold a doctoral degree and are licensed in a mental health profession and who consult regularly with program faculty ^[7].
• Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy — a low-fee, nine-month service running September through mid-June, requiring twice-weekly in-person sessions at the clinic near Washington Square Park and provided by psychology externs who are advanced doctoral students in accredited clinical and counseling psychology programs ^[7].
• Human Rights Work Group — pro bono forensic psychological evaluations for asylum, refugee, and deportation matters, together with teletherapy for certain international locations ^[7].

The Human Rights Work Group was added in 2017 as a social justice program and operates in partnership with the Immigrant Rights Clinic of the NYU School of Law and Physicians for Human Rights ^[7].

Governance

• Director — Donna S. Bender, Ph.D. ^[20][2].
• Clinic Director — Joshua B. Hooberman, Ph.D., who reports to the Director ^[20][2][4].
• Postdoctoral Program Senate — the governing body, responsible for program policy and operations ^[4].
• Executive Committee — an advisory committee to the Director ^[4].

The program is a freestanding program within GSAS ^[4]. The Senate is constituted of 26 senators, half drawn from the faculty and half from students and graduates: 13 faculty members (four from the Executive Committee, eight track chairs, and the clinic director), eight students, and five graduates, one of whom represents the Psychoanalytic Society ^[4]. It is chaired by the director, who votes only to break a tie ^[4]. The Executive Committee consists of the Clinic Director and four faculty members, one from each track; it is responsible for the appointment of faculty and consultants and makes recommendations to the Senate on new courses and curriculum ^[4].

Standing committees include Admissions, Colloquium, Curriculum, Ethics Advisory, Fellowships, Progression, Pro Bono and Social Responsibility, and Recruitment ^[4]. Interest and study groups include the Committee on Ethnicity, Race, Culture, Class, and Language (CERCCL), founded in 2007, the Committee on Genders and Sexualities, which was formed as a study group in 2012 and became a formal committee in 2014, the Human Rights Work Group, and the Intersectional Work Group ^[21][4].

A 2022 snapshot of the program’s website listed Spyros D. Orfanos, Ph.D., as Director and Maria Lechich, Ph.D., as Clinic Director ^[4].

Associated organizations

• The Psychoanalytic Society of the Postdoctoral Program — the graduate organization of the program, formed so that graduates could maintain an ongoing relationship with the program and with their collegial community ^[22][23].

The Society administers a Scholars’ Grant program, which has provided financial support for Postdoc committee programming ^[4][23].

Ethics and standards

The program requires students and faculty to adhere to the New York University Code of Ethical Conduct, and expects students to follow the American Psychological Association‘s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct or the equivalent code of the mental health discipline in which the student is licensed ^[3]. Complaints regarding the program or clinic may be directed to the Director, the Divisional Dean at Large of Arts and Science, or NYU’s Bias Response Line ^[2]. The Ethics Advisory Committee offers educational and consultation services on ethical matters to faculty and candidates ^[4].

Faculty and history projects

The teaching faculty and clinical consultants are listed by track — Relational, Interpersonal-Humanistic, Contemporary Freudian, and Independent ^[20]. In 2024 the program began an Oral History Project, conceived by Joyce Slochower and joined by Maria Lechich, recording video interviews with senior faculty about their professional histories and involvement with the program ^[24].