Pulsion Institute (Pulsion)

Pulsion, formally Pulsion: The International Institute of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychosomatics, is a psychoanalytic training institute in Manhattan. It was founded during the COVID-19 pandemic and held its inaugural symposium in November 2022, presenting itself as an attempt to return the Freudian theory of the drives, the body, and sexuality to a central place in American psychoanalysis ^[3]. The institute offers a license-qualifying post-graduate certificate program in psychoanalysis and brings together Freudian, post-Freudian, and Lacanian faculty from several countries ^[4][5].

History

According to the institute, Pulsion "emerged in the pandemic as an attempt to bring back what was central to Freud’s thinking, the body, the drives and sexuality," and was founded in part out of concern over what its founders describe as the relative abandonment of the Freudian drives in American psychoanalysis ^[3]. Its inaugural symposium, "Sexuality and its Discontents: The Erasure of the Feminine in Our Days," was held in New York City as a hybrid event on November 5, 2022 ^[3].

The institute states that its training grew out of psychoanalytic seminars that had been run for years at Rose Hill Psychological Services, a group clinical practice described by the institute as Pulsion’s affiliate clinic and "older sibling group" ^[6]. The institute has since organized an annual cycle in which a fall symposium raises a problematic that is elaborated in the clinic and reviewed at early-summer clinical days ^[6].

Training programs

• Post-Graduate Certificate Program in Psychoanalysis (LP Qualifying) — a certificate training program in psychoanalysis structured on the tripartite model of coursework, supervised clinical work, and personal analysis ^[5].
• Certified Training in Individual Psychoanalytic Psychodrama — a three-year program beginning in September 2026, leading to the Pulsion Certificate in Individual Psychoanalytic Psychodrama ^[7].

The certificate program’s curriculum is organized into three modules per term across two semesters per year, over four years, following a foundational year ^[5]. Module 1 addresses psychoanalytic psychosomatics; Module 2 is a reading of Freud’s corpus with emphasis on the drives from the economic point of view; and Module 3 covers psychoanalytic technique, progressing from play, the preconscious, and transitional psychoanalysis in Year 1 into clinical case conference and seminars in Years 2 through 4 ^[5]. Fall and spring semesters each comprise approximately 15 weeks ^[5]. The institute states that the curriculum also includes courses relevant to New York State licensure in psychoanalysis, with sociocultural influences on development, research methodology, and ethics covered in Years 3 and 4 ^[5].

Clinical requirements for the certificate program include:

• No fewer than three analytic control cases, with sessions at least three times per week over a minimum of two years and a minimum of 900 hours in total ^[5].
• A minimum of 600 hours of personal analysis, at least three times weekly and continuing throughout the program ^[5].

After completion or waiver of the foundational year, non-licensed and limited-licensed candidates progress, upon approval by the Progression Committee, into the license-qualifying component ^[5]. Pulsion contracts with Rose Hill Psychological Services P.C., a psychotherapy practice in Manhattan and the Bronx, to provide analytic cases for licensure-track candidates to treat under supervision; fully licensed professionals may see patients in their own offices ^[5].

The psychodrama training runs over six semesters, with the first two devoted to theory, technique, and experiential exercises without patients and the remaining four to supervised clinical practice; groups consist of six to eight candidates meeting weekly in person for sessions of approximately 1.5 hours ^[7].

Progression

Candidate advancement is administered through a documented progression process ^[5]:

• Twice yearly, an academic advisor gathers academic assessments from course chairs, verifies personal-analysis hours, and collects supervisory assessments of readiness ^[5].
• The advisor’s recommendation goes to the Progression Committee, which meets with supervisors and course chairs ^[5].
• The Progression Committee forwards recommendations to the Executive Committee, which makes a final deliberation, with the Chair deciding eligibility for progression ^[5].

Seminars, symposia, and public events

• Annual symposium — topics have included "Sexuality and its Discontents: The Erasure of the Feminine in Our Days" (November 2022) ^[3], "AI and the Drives" (December 2023, in collaboration with the Barnard College Center for Engaged Pedagogy) ^[8], and "Free Association: Free Speech?" (March 2025) ^[9].
• Clinical Days — held in June 2023 jointly with Rose Hill and in collaboration with The New School for Social Research concentration in psychoanalysis in the Department of Philosophy ^[6].
• PULSE — a series of book events and talks with invited authors and analysts ^{[10][11][12][13]}.
• Works in Progress — a monthly workshop, introduced in 2025, at which candidates and faculty present work in the institute ^[14][15][16].
• Guest seminars — multi-session seminars led by visiting analysts and scholars, such as a five-session seminar on Lacan’s library in January and February 2025 ^[17] and a four-session seminar on subjective topology and the operations of the psychoanalytical cure in March and April 2025 ^[18].

The 2025 symposium was offered for 7.5 continuing education credits for New York State–licensed psychologists, social workers, and licensed psychoanalysts ^[9]. A three-day May 2025 seminar on Giacomo Contri’s reading of Freud carried 6 continuing education units ^[19]. For the January–February 2025 Lacan seminar, the fee was $50 per session or $250 for the full series ^[17].

Faculty

The institute describes its faculty as international, comprising psychoanalysts from countries including the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, Greece, Germany, Slovenia, and Canada ^[4]. Julia Kristeva is listed as an honorary faculty member ^[4], and Marilia Aisenstein is described as an honorary member of the institute ^[8]. Faculty and supervisors also teach or hold appointments at other institutions, including the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, and the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research ^[4][8][9].

Governance

As listed by the institute, the officers are ^[4]:

• Vaia Tsolas, PhD — President and Chair of the Board of Trustees ^[4]; also described as co-founder and Executive Director ^[9].
• Christine Anzieu-Premmereur, MD, PhD — Vice-President and Trustee, and co-founder ^[4][20].
• David Lichtenstein, PhD — Treasurer and Trustee ^[4].
• Patricia Gherovici, PhD — Secretary and Trustee ^[4].

Additional trustees listed are Panos Aloupis, Michael Civin, Gabriela Goldstein, Andjela Samardzic, and Jamieson Webster ^[4]. The institute operates through standing committees for executive matters, education, admissions, finance, progression, publications, and events ^[4]. Marisa Berwald is identified as Director of Research ^[9].

Affiliations and accreditation

• New York State Education Department Office of the Professions — approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychoanalysts, provider number P-0068, for live in-person and live online courses, with an approval period of September 20, 2024 to September 30, 2027 ^[1].
• Rose Hill Psychological Services P.C. — affiliated clinic providing analytic cases for license-qualifying candidates ^[5][6].

The institute states that the curriculum of its certificate program is designed to satisfy coursework requirements for New York State licensure in psychoanalysis ^[5]. Individual events have been co-sponsored with outside bodies, including Barnard College’s Center for Engaged Pedagogy ^[8], The New School for Social Research ^[6], and the Foundation for Community Psychoanalysis together with Divided Publishing ^[21].