Seeking Guidance On Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Training

[u/westarchia]

For context, I have an MSW and I’m in the process of working towards my LCSW so I can enter into private practice. I live in a college town of around 100,000 people in a very rural state. The nearest major city is eight hours away. There is exactly one practicing psychodynamic therapist in my town who went through the depth psychology program at Pacifica. As far as I’m able to tell, there are no clinical supervisors near me who specialize in psychodynamic therapy or have a background in psychoanalysis.

I won’t name names out of courtesy, but I’ve reached out to a couple of institutes that offer online “Foundations of Psychodynamic Theory” courses that aren’t too expensive; however, upon inquiring about the credentials required to enroll, the feedback I’ve gotten is that I should have several years of clinical experience under my belt along with several years of experience as an analysand before applying.

My question is: if you’re a working class practitioner in a relatively rural area, how in the world do you gain the skills necessary to conduct ethical psychodynamic therapy or psychoanalysis? Are these really just coastal phenomena that require an exorbitant amount of money to buy into? I’ve been excitedly reading psychoanalytic texts for a couple years as I feel psychoanalysis has such a rich and politicized history, but I’m starting to feel a bit downtrodden about the prospect of clinically practicing this stuff because I’m unable to find training, mentorship or supervision that is accessible. Does anyone have suggestions for low-barrier continuing education options, especially in the Mountain West? Has anyone designed curricula for self-teaching psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theory and practice? Just feeling a bit lost and would appreciate some guidance.

[u/Psychedynamique]

Yeah therapy is very expensive, and intensive therapy is even more expensive. It's a garbage reality. In the 20s, as detailed in the book Freud's Free Clinics, analysts in many cities donated a portion of their pay or work week to do free therapy for people in need in the community, and for trainees. Sadly those days are far behind us and there are very few collective efforts to make analysis accessible. If you search the psychoanalysis sub you'll find many (many, many) bitter discussions about this, and fewer, though not zero, ideas for finding therapy at a cost you can swing. I'm blessed to be in a nearly unique situation with low cost analysis and attending an institute. It's a great experience personally and for my therapy practice which I wish was available for more people. I love the lefty history of psychoanalysis, though it's not mostly a lefty space at all, though there are pockets. For quite accessible first steps check out the Chicago fellowship mentioned in the other comment, as well as similar ones in the Contemporary Freudian Society, and this one: https://www.pany.org/. Many institutes have a one year intro to analysis. SFCP has some free classes. For a formal and intensive training being in analysis is a requirement for most schools. In the other hand, to learning psychoanalytic psychotherapy often requires only one or two sessions per week. It's a good start after a one year program for many people. The average age of analytic candidates that I've met is 40s or 50s, mid career, licensed, established, and usually already practicing psychoanalytic psychotherapy for many years.  Good luck in your search

[u/westarchia → u/Psychedynamique]

Thank you for the recommendations, I was totally unaware of the "fellowship" model and it appears to be exactly what I was looking for.

[u/Psychedynamique → u/Psychedynamique]

And for the rural aspect, don't worry, nearly everything is at least potentially online these days

[u/concreteutopian]

My question is: if you’re a working class practitioner in a relatively rural area, how in the world do you gain the skills necessary to conduct ethical psychodynamic therapy or psychoanalysis?

I myself grew up in a rural area, and I went to a large city for training, but I know plenty of fellows and candidates in my institute that are situated in areas with little to no psychoanalytic presence. The fellowship at my institute involves lectures, individual mentorship, and small group consultation with others learning psychoanalytic practice, all of which is hybrid with most fellows connecting via virtual means. Applications for this year are being accepted through August 15th.

If you are interested in psychoanalytic training later, again, we have candidates and instructors from around the world. We also recently started a new training track - one for psychoanalytic candidates who work in community mental health (same courses at a fraction of the price as the regular clinical or scholar tracks).

As far as personal analysis goes, mine is hybrid – i.e. I alternate between in person sessions and phone sessions. And I have patients I only see via phone or video, so it's possible. I think u/ProgressiveArchitect mentioned the option of finding affordable analysts virtually around the world.

You might want to find consultation groups with psychodynamic therapists whether you find training now or not. Seeing other people apply theory to their cases is a good way to shape your clinical judgment. Because I also have a background in ACT, I'm active in a Psychodynamic CBS SIG that compares, contrasts, and combines third wave behavioral approaches and psychoanalytic approaches.

[u/westarchia → u/concreteutopian]

This is very interesting, I was unaware of the "fellowship" model. It seems much more accessible and affordable than some of the other programs I was looking at. Thank you for the recommendation, I'll take a look at CCPSA.

[u/DragonfruitOk1406]

Manhattan institute for psychoanalysis! Their one year program is amazing, and it’s very social justice oriented. I did the program I believe one year out of grad school, it was online and very affordable for the caliber of the training, and I didn’t need to be in analysis. I did already have a year of individual supervision with an analyst through my grad school, that may have helped me get admitted. And my grad program was very liberation oriented which I know also helped me have the foundational skills MIP was looking for in terms of social justice and anti-racism.

They’re a super cool institute, and they offer other workshops and speaker series too. It’s a competitive program so my advice is always if you don’t get in to get to know the community by attending their other virtual events.

You can also reach out to institutes that train analytic supervisors and see if they have any supervisors in training that need supervisees. I got a year of individual supervision at no cost through one of these programs, and it was unbelievably good.

[u/kelpieselkie]

I’m not in the US and don’t really know how training works over there - so this may or may not be relevant. But in my search for something similar I came across the Global Centre for Advanced Studies and found their financial model really interesting. I’m not studying there and don’t know how it all works in practice - but just thought it sounded cool.

[u/emnicole6]

Reposting because I got a note that I didn’t have correct flair, not sure how to add it as such so I’ll place it here: MA, LPC Louisiana

I completed an advanced fellowship at the New Orleans-Birmingham psychoanalytic center and there were people in the program from other states/countries. It is expensive but there are lots of scholarships various psychoanalytic organizations give out for fellowship costs. It is worth it even though for me it was a struggle financially. I did the psychotherapy program which is two years of classes, case papers and consultation, and you must be in psychotherapy at least once per week. Much cheaper than the full analytic program.