Admissions

Procedures

Applications may be completed online, printed from the Center website, or obtained by contacting the Institute. A nonrefundable application fee of $100 is required with each formal application.

Applications are accepted throughout the year but should be submitted by May 1 for classes beginning the following September. Applications requiring a Waiver for a Non-Training Analyst are due January 15.

Admissions Committee Chairs

Linda Stern: lssmft@aol.com
Steve Rosenblum: gsrosenblm@aol.com

Requirements for Admission

Admission for psychoanalytic training is based on the standards of the American Psychoanalytic Association, with modifications where appropriate. Information gathered during admission and training is confidential and restricted to authorized Institute and American Psychoanalytic Association personnel to the extent permitted by law.

Mental Health Clinicians

Applicants are evaluated for eligibility and readiness based on their education, clinical training, clinical experience, aptitude, and potential for psychoanalytic competence. They must have graduated from an accredited, post-baccalaureate, degree-based clinical mental health program and should hold at least one of the following:

1. A medical degree, with psychiatric residency training completed or in progress.
2. A doctoral degree in a mental health field.
3. A clinical master’s degree recognized as the highest clinical degree generally obtained in the applicant’s profession, supplemented by at least two years of additional didactic and clinical training.

Post-master’s preparation must include clinical work; two years of full-time mental health clinical experience or its equivalent, approximately 3,000 hours; weekly clinical supervision in psychodynamic psychotherapy; and approximately 60 hours of instruction covering assessment of the full range of emotional disorders. This preparation may be completed through a structured program or individually selected learning opportunities.

Applicants must obtain the licensure or certification and insurance required to practice psychoanalysis in the jurisdiction where they intend to work.

Non-Mental Health Clinicians

The Institute welcomes medical clinicians and researchers, investigators and scholars from all fields, and other professionals seeking to enhance their work through psychoanalytic training.

These applicants may pursue training as Research Candidates. This path includes personal analysis with an Institute training analyst and the four-year core course curriculum, but it does not include supervised psychoanalysis of patients.

Non-mental health clinicians may qualify as Clinical Candidates by obtaining a CORST waiver. This option is intended for candidates who expect to continue working outside clinical psychoanalysis—such as in literary scholarship, philosophy, law, or international relations—but whose work would benefit from psychoanalytic study that includes supervised analysis of patients. The waiver requires extensive clinical preparation arranged individually with the Institute. Preparation may occur before application or while the applicant studies as a Research Candidate.

Suitability

The Institute Council must be satisfied that an applicant has good professional and ethical character. It also evaluates the applicant’s potential for a successful personal analysis and resulting personality maturation. For Clinical Candidates, the Council additionally assesses the potential to function as a psychoanalyst.

The evaluation is based on written information from the applicant and references, as well as meetings with an admissions interview panel. Following personal interviews, qualified applicants submit a written clinical case report for group discussion with their interviewers and the Admissions Committee chair.

Applications

Application forms are available from the Institute. A nonrefundable $100 fee accompanies each formal application. Applications should be submitted by May 1 for the following fall, although they are accepted throughout the year and reviewed periodically. Applications requiring a Waiver for a Non-Training Analyst are due January 15.

Applicants are notified of the Education Committee’s decision after completing the admissions process. Because admission decisions involve personal judgments and evaluation of intangible factors, the Institute may choose not to provide reasons when an application is not accepted.

Contact

The Washington Psychoanalytic Institute
4545 42nd Street NW, Suite 209
Washington, DC 20016

Voice: 202-237-1854
Fax: 202-237-1856
Email: center@wcpweb.org