training

[psychdoc001]

Thank you for your replies - i am in my early career also so this was very helpful

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[summerbabe]

Have you seen anyone in this type of training who also works as a staff psychologist in other settings? Or this training is usually for private practice?

I'm early career, not East Coast based, come from primarily CBT training environments, and currently work for the Dept of Veteran Affairs but I have never run across a psychoanalyst in the VA or another hospital/agency. While I can think of at least 2 VA staff psychologists with some dynamic orientation, they were also competent in time-limited interventions.

Given that psychoanalysis may last for years, self pay with a provider in private practice is the only way to sustain this model. Many hospitals/agencies are under-staffed so there's pressure to provide effective, time-limited, and evidence-based treatments and quickly discharge patients. Nor does psychoanalysis fit with the financial model of modern managed insurance operations.

 

[niceman]

I cannot speak to that particularly program. In New England I know a few who work in medical school, AMC, hospital, and UCC. And there's always the Austin Riggs Center (although many of its staff are graduates of its residency/fellowship programs). AFAIK those who work in medical settings have the flexibility to provide more long-term treatment for patients with SMI. My impression is that they were hired not just because of their psychoanalytic orientation but their strong knowledge of SMI and application of theory in treatment. Other than that, I agree that psychoanalysis is likely not financial sustainable in many settings except for private practice.

 

[psychdoc001]

Thank you for your replies. So even though I go through this training due to my personal interest and for my own private practice, when I apply for a job, if I am willing to be flexible, this training history does not necessary make me look bad?

 

[summerbabe]

So even though I go through this training due to my personal interest and for my own private practice, when I apply for a job, if I am willing to be flexible, this training history does not necessary make me look bad?

Are you licensed already or would this be a new career? Looking at the Contemporary Freudian Society webpage, they only offer continuing education to already licensed psychiatrists, psychologists, and master's level therapists.

If you are applying to an agency job and understand the limits of psychoanalysis in that setting and already have other training specific to your license and is relevant to that job, then some places may see this as a positive, some may be neutral to it, and some may feel like you could be a poor fit (especially if the people hiring are biased against psychoanalysis) so it's hard to make a blanket statement.

 

[PsyDr]

A. Your statements about the job market makes me suspect that you are not a licensed psychologsit, which is a prerequisite to go to a psychoanalytic institution. Psychoanalytic training does not lead to licensure.

B. Based upon my own experience:

1) Psychoanalysis almost requires a private practice setting, in a wealthy area. You need patients with: some minor psych problems, an interest in an obscure treatment, the ability to cash pay for 3 sessions a week, whose work allows 6 hrs of absences every week (when you include a minimal commute), etc. These factors are no longer consistent with most other settings. And psychoanalysis is getting longer.

2) Some academic settings still value things associated with psychoanalysis (e.g., clinician with tons of publications in obscure journals, who tends to stay out of the way, and has a reputation as fancy).

3) The "job market" for psychoanalysts is basically non-existent. The academics in psychoanalysis seem to practice until much much later in life (e.g., 80s).

4) Since admissions is not really an issue for psychoanalytic institutions, I don't know why you would choose that school. The oldest and arguably most respected psychoanalytic training center, The New York Psychoanalytic Institute is close-ish. Arguably the second most respected training center, William Alanson White, is right there. Brooklyn to the upper west side is what, 30 min on the A line? And you're probably online for classes anyway. That's like drinking a flat cream soda in your fridge, when there is a corner store full of ice cold Coca-cola and Pepsi at the end of the block .