ADVANCED PSYCHOTHERAPY TRAINING PROGRAM
Virginia Hendrickson, MSW, Co-Chair
Betty Ann Kaplan, PhD, Co-Chair
The Advanced Psychotherapy Training Program is a three-year course of study offered to experienced therapists who desire to expand their knowledge of psychodynamic theory and practice. The Advanced Program promotes an appreciation of multiple theoretical perspectives and is designed to meet the needs of therapists who seek:
- Greater depth and complexity in understanding the therapeutic relationship and its impact on the internal world of patient and therapist
- Enhancement of clinical skills and therapeutic efficacy
- A lively intellectual and professional community in which to nurture one's professional identity and grow and contribute to the field
Students build a strong foundation for practice through theoretical and technique-oriented seminars and case conferences. Program-wide presentations by faculty and students and weekly supervision enhance a student's clinical expertise and develop his or her personal framework of practice. The APTP honors a tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration within the Washington School of Psychiatry, and draws its faculty and students from many disciplines including psychiatry, psychology, social work, counseling and the expressive therapies. The three-year curriculum is organized to provide both an appreciation of the historic unfolding of psychoanalytic theory and its contemporary interpretation by today's leading thinkers.
The first year begins with a reading of the classical papers of Freud. Students are then introduced to contemporary defense analysis and to transference/countertransference dynamics as these operate in the consultation room. The impact of developmental research on psychoanalytic thinking and technique is explored through attachment theory and research, infant observation, and current contributions of neuroscience to our understanding of affect, memory, and trauma.
In the second year of the program, students are immersed in the interpersonal tradition of Harry Stack Sullivan and the British Object Relations School including W.R.D. Fairbairn, Melanie Klein, and Donald Winnicott. The work of Balint, Guntrip and Ferenczi and the post-Kleinians prepares students to grapple with the issues of identity formationa and distortion as they apply to the development of severe psychopathology.
The third year of the program emphasizes clinical studies of borderline phenomena, internalization and differentiation of the self and other, and the integration of a continuous and coherent psychic identity. The dramatic contributions of Kernberg, Kohut and Lacan to the shaping of contemporary approaches to psychoanalytic psychotherapy are thoroughly explored. An emphasis on synthesis and integration of theory as it is articulated by both relational and intersubjective perspectives rounds out the final year of the program when students typically find that their own therapeutic voices have become more complex and coherent within their own professional framework, Finally, throughout the three-year curriculum, special topic seminars are offered, including dream interpretation, psychopharmacology and psychotherapeutic technique in oedipal transferences.
Schedule
Classes meet on Tuesdays for 34 weeks each year from September through May. Each evening consists of a theoretical seminar, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., which focuses on a theoretical approach and a clinical seminar, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., which explores the clinical practice of that theory. On twelve Tuesdays of the year, there will be a group process meeting from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Supervision
Students are required to have a minimum of 35 hours of supervision per year with a supervisor of their choice from the faculty. Students change supervisors each year in order to encounter multiple theoretical perspectives. Fees are arranged between the student and the supervisor. Low-fee supervision is available for students in financial need.
Eligibility
Students come from the professional areas of social work, psychology, psychiatry, pastoral counseling, nursing, art therapy and other mental health disciplines. Students are selected on the basis of clinical experience and motivation for rigorous study, talent, flexibility in thinking, and a capacity for exploring the thinking of others through dialogue.
Tuition
Tuition for the 2008–2009 academic year is $2,350. Supervision fees and required course materials are additional. Limited scholarship money for tuition may be available, based on financial need and merit.