Glossary - NYC Psychoanalytic Training Institutes Wiki

Psychoanalytic terms 6

Candidate: A person currently enrolled in a psychoanalytic training program. The term distinguishes trainees from graduates, who hold the title of "analyst," and often are referred to as "members" or "fellows."
Certificate: A credential awarded upon completion of a psychoanalytic training program. A certificate does not confer clinical licensure — it is a professional qualification within the psychoanalytic community, not a New York State license.
Control Case: A patient seen by a candidate in training under regular supervision from a senior analyst. Most programs require two to four.
LP (Licensed Psychoanalyst): href="https://www.op.nysed.gov/professions/psychoanalysis">New York State clinical license allowing the holder to practice psychoanalysis independently. LP programs are open to applicants without prior clinical training.
Personal Analysis: One's psychoanalysis, as a patient. Typically, more classical analysis is four or five times a week, with the patient lying on the couch. Relational and other analyses often take place at two or three times a week, with the patient on the couch or in a chair.
Training Analysis: Psychoanalysis undergone by a trainee as part of their training. Most training programs require a personal analysis, typically at three to five sessions per week.

Orientations 12

Bionian: Rooted in the work of Wilfred Bion, who extended Kleinian theory with original concepts including the container/contained relationship, alpha and beta elements, the theory of thinking, and the importance of tolerating not-knowing (negative capability) in clinical work.
Ego Psychology: A tradition associated with Freud's structural model, developed by Anna Freud, Heinz Hartmann, and others. Dominated American psychoanalysis through the mid-twentieth century.
Freudian: Rooted in the foundational theories of Sigmund Freud, including the unconscious, repression, libidinal drives, and the Oedipus complex.
Independent: A pluralistic orientation that does not align with a single theoretical school. In the British tradition, the Independent Group (sometimes called the Middle Group) arose between the Kleinians and Anna Freudians. In the American context, "independent" often signals an institute that draws from multiple traditions without privileging any one.
Interpersonal: A tradition developed at the William Alanson White Institute, emphasizing that personality develops in the context of relationships.
Jungian: Based on the Analytical Psychology of Carl Gustav Jung, who broke from Freud to develop his own model of the psyche. Emphasizes archetypes, the collective unconscious, the process of individuation, and the symbolic analysis of dreams and imagination.
Kleinian: Based on the work of Melanie Klein, who shifted the focus of psychoanalysis to the earliest months of life. Key concepts include the paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions, projective identification, envy, and the role of unconscious fantasy in mental life.
Lacanian: Based on the theories of Jacques Lacan, who re-read Freud through structural linguistics. Differs significantly from other traditions in technique.
Modern: Rooted in the work of Hyman Spotnitz, who extended Freudian theory to treat pre-oedipal conditions — including narcissistic disorders and schizophrenia — that classical technique had considered untreatable. The approach emphasizes working with resistance rather than interpreting it away, using the analyst's own emotional responses as a clinical instrument, and joining the resistance to help patients tolerate and resolve early developmental impasses. The principal New York training programs in this tradition are the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies (CMPS) and the Academy for Contemporary Applied Psychoanalysis (ACAP).
Object Relations: A family of theories focusing on internalized representations of relationships and how early relational experiences shape psychic structure.
Relational: A contemporary tradition that emerged in the 1980s and 90s, emphasizing the mutual influence of analyst and patient and the therapeutic action of the relationship itself.
Self Psychology: A theory developed by Heinz Kohut emphasizing the role of empathy, mirroring, and idealization in the development of the self.

Organizations 4

APsaA: The American Psychoanalytic Association, the major professional organization for psychoanalysts in the United States. Member institutes meet rigorous training standards; graduation from an APsaA-affiliated institute confers recognition within the IPA.
CIPS: The Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies is the national professional organization of the independent societies of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) in the United States. CIPS is composed of seven psychoanalytic groups in the United States.
IARPP: The International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, a global organization dedicated to the development of relational and intersubjective approaches to psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.
IPA: The International Psychoanalytical Association, the oldest and largest international psychoanalytic organization. Founded by Freud in 1910. Member societies and institutes are held to a standardized set of training requirements.

Program types 5

1-year: A one-year post-graduate training program in psychoanalytic theory and technique. One-year programs are typically designed for clinicians who already hold a professional license and wish to deepen their psychoanalytic knowledge without committing to full analytic training. Coursework generally emphasizes theory, clinical seminars, or a specific area of psychoanalytic thought or clinical work rather than the full supervised-analysis requirements of longer certificate programs.
2-year: A two-year certificate or training program in psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice. Two-year programs are usually open to licensed clinicians and provide a substantive introduction to psychoanalytic work — including supervised case seminars and a reading of core texts — without requiring the personal analysis and extended supervision of a full four-year or indefinite training. Many two-year graduates go on to enroll in a longer program.
4-year: A four-year certificate program leading to certification as a psychoanalytic clinician. Four-year programs are the standard analytic training track at most NYC institutes for licensed mental health professionals (psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, counselors). Requirements typically include: completion of a personal analysis with an institute-approved analyst, supervised analytic cases (often two or more concurrent cases at analytic frequency), and a multi-year didactic curriculum covering classical and contemporary theory. Graduates are eligible for institute membership and, in most cases, for membership in national and international psychoanalytic organizations.
LP program: A training program leading to licensure as a Licensed Psychoanalyst (LP) under New York State Education Law. The LP credential is unique to New York and allows individuals who do not already hold a mental health license (such as an LCSW, psychologist, or psychiatrist) to practice psychoanalysis independently upon program completion. LP programs are typically four to five years in length and include personal analysis, supervised analytic cases, and a full didactic curriculum — requirements broadly comparable to four-year certificate programs. Graduates are eligible to sit for the New York State LP licensing examination. This pathway is sometimes described as “training from scratch,” as it is designed for people who wish to become psychoanalysts without first obtaining a separate clinical license.
indefinite: A certificate program without a fixed completion timeline, structured around the trainee's individual progress rather than a defined year count. Indefinite programs recognize that analytic training — particularly the personal analysis and the accumulation of supervised cases — does not always fit neatly into a set number of years. Trainees advance through requirements at their own pace and graduate when all training requirements have been fulfilled. Some institutes use this designation for programs that would otherwise be described as “four-year” programs — their didactic components often last four years — but whose overall duration in practice varies considerably from candidate to candidate.

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