Adult Psychoanalytic Training

The Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program is designed for clinicians with experience in psychotherapy seeking greater expertise in treating those whose psychological conflicts interfere with their ability to find satisfaction in work, love, and life.

While clinical work in psychoanalysis requires specific technical skills, it also comprises an attitude of intellectual and emotional openness toward the full range of human experience. This attitude includes a spirit of curiosity about the accumulated and emerging body of psychoanalytic knowledge, and a deep, lasting commitment to patient care.

PANY's approach is grounded in the continuing revisions in theory and technique from Freud's pioneering discoveries to the present day. The curriculum pays close attention to all major schools of psychoanalytic thought, both early and contemporary, as they pertain to the wide range of patients and clinical problems encountered in psychoanalysis. PANY is not wedded to any particular "psychoanalytic school." Candidates and faculty work together in a spirit of open and critical inquiry to explore the development of this complex field. We study the many valuable contributions of diverse psychoanalytic thinkers and schools. PANY trains candidates in developing a knowledge base and a way of thinking, preparing graduates for the lifelong process of clinical improvement and the pursuit of excellence as practicing psychoanalysts.

We encourage a smooth and progressive transition from candidate status to graduate-teacher. Most graduates become active faculty members. Senior candidates and recent graduates interested in teaching may obtain experience in the Institute's psychotherapy programs and in NYU School of Medicine's instruction of medical students and psychiatric residents and fellows. They may then move on to co-teach in the psychoanalytic curriculum with a more senior faculty member. Mentored co-teaching, a mainstay of the Institute since our founding in 1949, generates new and diverse psychoanalytic teaching perspectives.

Eligibility
The Psychoanalytic Program is designed for experienced clinicians who have achieved a terminal degree in their field: MD psychiatrists and psychiatry residents; PhD and PsyD clinical psychologists; psychiatric nurse practitioners; and LCSW/DSW clinical social workers. In addition, PANY is authorized by New York State to offer clinical training to qualify for a license as a “Licensed Psychoanalyst” (LP) to individuals whose license does not already permit psychoanalysis. All applicants, regardless of degree, must meet experience requirements including 3000 hours of clinical experience as well as 1) 60 hours post masters of psychodynamic psychotherapy supervision and 60 hours post masters of psychodynamically oriented courses and clinical seminars or, 2) a two year organized post masters psychodynamic psychotherapy program including supervised clinical experience.

Personal Qualities
Applicants are accepted on the basis of their education and experience, scientific interest in the field, psychological aptitude, and certain character attributes. These include personal integrity, maturity, and an abiding interest in the vicissitudes of human experience and psychological growth; a capacity for psychological understanding and sensitivity; the ability to listen and communicate empathically; the desire to make observations non-judgmentally in an inherently subjective field; and a tolerance for complexity, ambiguity, and frustration. Psychoanalytic training helps the student (candidate) develop and integrate these characteristics and capacities.

Application Process
The application consists of biographical information, requests for letters of recommendation (that PANY will request on your behalf), and transcripts of the previous educational experience. A non-refundable fee of $125 must accompany the application. Completed applications are processed throughout the year; the latest date for submitting an application is June 1 for classes beginning the following September. The written application is supplemented by a series of interviews by two or three faculty members once the application is received. 

Applicants will be notified of the Admissions Committee’s decision as soon as possible following completion of the interview process.

We welcome your inquiries. For further information, contact the Admissions Co-Chairs:

Leslie Cummins, DSW, LCSW; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Desiree Santos, LCSW-R; (646) 574 - 7376

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Candidates begin a personal psychoanalysis as soon as possible after admission. This develops a candidate's sensitivity to the workings of unconscious mental life in clinical work. Candidates not already in psychoanalysis consult with the Admissions Committee Chair for referral to a training analyst on the faculty of the Institute. Applicants who have already begun an analysis with a training analyst from another approved training institute may continue with that analyst while training at the Institute. In some instances, a waiver for continuing an ongoing analysis with a non-training analyst from PANY or another approved institute is possible. The Chair of Admissions can be contacted to discuss the possibility and procedure for this option.

A candidate's analysis is expected to continue for the majority of one’s training and supervised clinical work. Training analyses are conducted at a frequency of at least four times weekly. Treatment fees are arranged privately by the candidate and his/her training analyst. One's analysis is completely confidential.

The years of psychoanalytic candidacy provide a unique opportunity to participate in an immersive analytic experience with patients while being informed and guided by classroom learning, supervision, and one’s own personal psychoanalysis (training analysis). This is a special time in an analyst’s professional life when engagement in immersive, in depth clinical work occurs while under the umbrella of a richly supportive educational environment. One of the pillars of this educational journey, the in-depth work with patients that allows for effective analytic process to develop, occurs as candidates see patients multiple times a week. It is believed that higher frequencies enable a climate where vital information emerges, continuity and intimacy are facilitated, and the patient’s and analyst’s reactions to each other are deepened and better known. These reactions are among the core and crucial elements of an analytic endeavor, distinguishing analysis from other forms of psychotherapy.

Historically, psychoanalytic training has rested on the premise that the more times per week the patient and analyst meet, the better the chance for the development of an effective analytic process and therapeutic result. There is much to be said for this approach. But entering into a discussion of a specific number of sessions per week that an Institute permits or requires of its candidates during training can concretize and objectify numbers as somehow definitional of the entire enterprise, sometimes even at the expense of clinical judgment. Such discussions have a tendency to veer away from what we at PANY believe is most important when we think about educational aims for our candidates – that the quality of the candidate’s work is paramount. We feel it is most meaningful to think about training in this way, qualitatively, rather than focusing on the numbers of sessions per week.

That being said, since prospective candidates and candidates-in-training do ask about numbers, and because the number of sessions per week can and does affect the quality of the work, we think it is important to provide some orienting remarks.

We consider the optimal frequency for most analyses to develop an analytic immersive process to be at the higher end, four to five times a week. While this provides the best opportunity for analyst and patient, we also understand that it is not always possible, for a variety of reasons, for candidate and patient to be able to work at these frequencies. Therefore, PANY recognizes that analysis conducted at three times a week may provide an analytic experience that can work well for the patient and for the candidate’s development. We also believe that frequencies below three times a week are not sufficient for a psychoanalytic process to develop, although they may be sufficient for a different sort of process to develop, that seen in psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Supervisors will work closely with candidates to help determine what frequency seems best for each situation. The Student Progression Committee (the SPC is composed of faculty advisors for each student) oversees the candidate’s experience, understanding that frequency is not the sole factor that determines the quality and success of an analysis for the patient and for the candidate’s learning. The SPC will provide periodic transparent feedback to help the candidate develop certain core analytic competencies and to ensure treatments are progressing to important phases of analysis that will allow the candidate to experience involvement in an immersive analytic process as a psychoanalyst.

Students at PANY can train with confidence that thoughtful consideration will be given to the development of each individual candidate, and that the frequency of sessions is always considered in the context of the totality of the candidate’s educational experience and clinical work.

Finally, treatment and educational outcomes can depend on many factors, including the rate of personal progress that is important for any given candidate in developing competence as an analyst. The candidate’s own training analysis is therefore central to our training model. And because this is a unique and probably the only opportunity for the candidate to personally experience the impact of analytic immersion as a patient and analyst-in-training, we believe it should be conducted at a frequency of 4 or 5 times a week. With his or her own patients, the candidate can have the opportunity to compare immersion at various frequencies.

For those interested in learning more about the rationale for candidates treating their patients at a frequency between three and five times a week, please click this link to an essay on the Insights page of the PANY website. 

The curriculum consists of four years of required classes, taught on Saturday mornings, 8:30 am to 1:00 pm, September through May. In the first year and the first trimester of the second year, there is also a class on Tuesday evenings, usually 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Classes are held at 1 Park Avenue (at 33rd Street). After promotion to senior candidate status, candidates attend an ongoing continuous case seminar for two years and are encouraged to participate in elective seminars. Candidates may apply at any time to begin classes in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis.

For an overview of the curriculum and descriptions of the individual courses, click here.

Immersion in psychoanalytic work is a central feature of psychoanalytic training. Supervised patients are seen three to five times per week. Psychoanalytic patients may be developed from the candidate's private practice or referred through PANY’s Consultation and Treatment Service. Treatment is conducted privately, usually in the candidate's own office.

See the section on Licensed Psychoanalyst (LP) Candidate Training for requirements specific to that program.

The cost of psychoanalytic training includes PANY tuition, and supervision fees and fees for personal psychoanalysis paid directly to the supervisor and training anlyst. PANY is sensitive to financial circumstances has kept tuition and other expenses as low as possible. Payment plans are available through the Institute office.

Application Fee: $125
Annual Registration Fee: In-class candidates $825; Seniors $1100
Annual Tuition (class years 1-4, Senior-level candidates pay no tuition): $2640
Annual Subscription to PEP (Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing Database): $120

Payment plans for tuition and registration fees are available through the PANY office.

Financial Aid

Student loans are available to help defray costs incurred during training. The PANY Society Committee provides no-interest loans to qualified candidates through its Student Aid Program.

ACCME Accreditation Statement for Joint Providership
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the American Psychoanalytic Association and Psychoanalytic Association of New York (PANY). The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 1 credit per classroom hour of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters of this CME program have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Psychoanalytic Association New York, affiliated with NYU Langone Health is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0124.

Psychoanalytic Association of New York (affiliated with NYU Grossman School of Medicine) is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0112.