Psychoanalytic Training InstituteThe Adult Training in Psychoanalysis Program is an in-depth course of study in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis. It is appropriate for professionals licensed in Psychology, Social Work, Psychiatry, Psychiatric Nursing (i.e., Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified Advanced Practice Nurse or Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner), or Licensed Professional Counselors.
The Adult Training Program in Psychoanalysis at the CFS (CFS-PTI) is unique in several ways. It provides a firm grounding in the fundamentals of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic theory beginning with the seminal papers of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, and Anna Freud, as well as the work of those who clarified and further developed these theories such as Hans Loewald, James Strachey, Jacob Arlow, Hannah Segal, and the Contemporary Kleinians. In addition, the CFS-PTI encourages exploration in the work of those who established their own schools of thought such as Donald Winnicott, Wilfried Bion, Hans Kohut, and the more recent work of the Italian field theorists, such as Antonino Ferro and Giuseppe Civitarese.
At CFS-PTI we believe strongly that a deep understanding of child development and its impact on treatment with individuals at all stages of development is fundamental. We are very proud that our program is cutting edge with offering an Integrated Training Track. The organizing principle of integrating the curriculum is to ground our candidates in the life cycle of the mind—from infancy through adulthood. This curriculum reflects our conviction that including some content that is traditionally taught to child analytic candidates enriches and deepens the analytic thinking and practice of all candidates working with adult and/or child patients.
A hallmark of our training program is the focus on analytic listening and the development of an “analytic ear” over the course of our four year program. Listening is primarily taught through the study of clinical material with the development of a narrative that includes observation of both the verbal and the nonverbal communication—what is both the manifest and the latent content of a patient’s communication.
The CFS-PTI in Washington, DC, offers a unique class schedule of 12 Saturdays per academic year that makes training with us more accessible to many who otherwise might not be able to pursue analytic training. We attract students who might live outside the DC/Baltimore metropolitan area, students who have work schedules that might preclude classes held during the week or those who might have family demands that make classes held during the work week on a weekly basis difficult or impossible. We greatly value the geographic diversity of our students and membership, and the broad academic backgrounds that have greatly enriched our classes.