HISTORY AND PURPOSE
Psychoanalytic education
on the West Coast began in the latter part of the 1930's under the aegis of the
Topeka Psychoanalytic Institute. The small group of training analysts was composed
of members from both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Early in 1941 the San Francisco
Psychoanalytic Society was formed, and soon thereafter became an affiliate society
of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Training activities were then carried
on by the training analysts who made up the Education Committee of the Society.
With the marked post-war increase
in demand for training, the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute was formed.
Incorporated for educational purposes under the laws of the State of California,
it gained official recognition and approval as a Training Institute by the American
Psychoanalytic Association. In 1961 the Society and Institute combined into a
single organization with a single set of officers and bylaws.
The primary objectives of the
Institute are to advance the development of psychoanalysis based on the scientific
discoveries of Sigmund Freud, to train selected and qualified students in psychoanalytic
theory and practice and to promote psychoanalytic education and research in accordance
with the training standards of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
Other purposes of the Institute
include the study of the application of psychoanalytic theory and principles in
research and in preventive intervention in human development; to provide a limited
number of patients, allied professionals and academicians with personal psychoanalysis
at a low cost under the auspices of the Clinic; and to promote a wider knowledge
of the psychoanalytic concepts and their general application by developing and
sustaining a dialogue amoung psychoanalysts, members of allied professions, educators,
academicians in the social and biological sciences and the humanities, and the
interested lay public.
These purposes are accomplished
through the Training Program, the Psychoanalytic Clinic, the Extension Division,
the Scientific Meetings of the Society, the sponsorship of research activities,
the Erik H. Erikson Library and the Friends of the Psychoanalytic Institute and
Society.
PSYCHOANALYTIC TRAINING FOR ACADEMIC SCHOLARS AND
RESEARCHERS
The San Francisco Psychoanalytic
Institute, as a component of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA),
has long had a program in psychoanalytic training for academic scholars and researchers
who have felt that their work would be enhanced by intensive training in the theory
and technique of psychoanalysis. This special program offers partial training,
consisting of personal analysis with a training analyst plus an individually tailored
curriculum of theoretical and clinical seminars. We also offer full training,
which, in addition, includes the experience of conducting clinical psychoanalysis
under supervision. Depending upon the scope of training completed, graduates are
then eligible to apply for the appropriate membership category in the APsaA.
The intention of the program is to qualify
its graduates to do better psychoanalytically-informed research and scholarly
work in their primary discipline. For those graduates who have received ‘full
training’, this also includes the qualifications to conduct psychoanalysis on
an independent basis.
In recognition of the fact that these
academic scholars and researchers are earning academic rather than clinical practice
incomes, the costs of the psychoanalytic training (the personal analysis, the
seminar sequence, and the psychoanalytic supervisions, if that is part of it)
can be adjusted downward to reflect the economic circumstances of the candidate.
Those interested in further information
about this program should contact: The San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute
(415-563-5815) and/or Nancy Chodorow, Ph.D., Chair of the Committee on Research
and Special Training .
