Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR PSYCHOANALYTIC TRAINING
2015 (In Russian guidlanes-russian)

The Institute selects, trains, teaches and recommends qualified candidates for Direct Membership of the IPA, in those countries of the post-communist Europe, where no training institutes exist to perform these functions. It is assumed that those who become graduates of the Institute (and thus Direct Members of the IPA) will form themselves into Study Groups and they, in turn, will move on towards Provisional and Component Society status.

To train psychoanalysts the European Psychoanalytic Institute  (EPI) follows the criteria adopted by the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA), which was founded by Sigmund Freud and which gathers together Psychoanalytical Societies from all over the world. Such criteria have been based, since the 1920s, on the tripartite model of training, of which the main elements are:

– personal analysis of the candidate,

– supervisions of the first psychoanalytic treatments,

– theoretical teaching by seminars and schools.

The Institute will propose to the IPA Executive Council those Candidates, who will perform in all these three parts in the best possible way, to become IPA Direct Members.

The Institute aim is to train analysts who are as proficient as those of any other Institute, individually tailoring parts of training and special tools in order to achieve such an aim.

What is emphasized is that the training doesn’t stop at the evaluation, when one becomes an IPA Member, but is a permanent, never-finished task. Following the end of their formal training, analysts continue to improve their analytic competence using many tools: the analytic practice, further tranches of personal analysis (sometimes also a second, personal analysis), further qualified individual or group supervisions, attending theoretical meetings and congresses and systematically reading psychoanalytic literature. But, what is basic, is to be part of a good working group of qualified Colleagues. Nowadays it is unthinkable to be an isolated analyst, without the possibility to regularly meet colleagues and discuss with them clinical and theoretical work. Therefore the EPI invests efforts also in the local groups development and considers this aspect too in the selection of the EPI trainees and decisions about further qualifications.

Everybody who is living and working in an area, where no established IPA group (Study Group, Provisional or Component Society) is active, and who wants to become an IPA analyst, has basically two ways to realize it. One possibility is, like everybody all around the world, to be accepted by any Institute of an IPA Component Society in any country and then fulfill its requirements to become Member of that Society. At the end of this training the Candidate may apply for membership in this Component Society and thus obtain membership in the IPA. In this case the concerned Society’s Institute will provide all the training.

TRAINING WITHIN THE EPI

A second possibility of psychoanalytic training is through the  EPI Institute, which leads to IPA Direct Membership. In this case the Institute takes care of the training, of the interviews and of the evaluation. All those who live and work in an area, where no established IPA group does exist, and wish to begin a psychoanalytic training, may apply to be registered in the Institute. All registered trainees (Registered Analysands and Candidates) perform their training under the umbrella of the Institute, in contact with the Institute Board and Staff.

1. The analytic training within the Institute, which usually takes not less than 6-8 years, develops in the following way. (Further details may be asked Associated Director of the Institute Christoph Walker).
2. Those who wish to become  EPI TRAINEES must have a university degree, preferably in medicine or psychology and should start by attending the EPI School  in order to establish their first contacts with the EPI.
3. When the applicant feels his/her motivation clear enough, s/he must contact a training analyst or an experienced analyst, authorized by the Institute to analyze Candidates. When the project to undertake a personal analysis with training purposes is outlined realistically enough, s/he may apply to participate at the SELECTION INTERVIEWS for  EPI trainees, which is usually realized  during the EPI School.
4. The applicant must send her/his APPLICATION FORM and a written SELF PRESENTATION (short life story, 2-3 pages) to the  EPI Associate Director for Training, not later than the 15th of April. Then s/he must join the  EPI School in that year.
5. During the  EPI School the applicant must present some CLINICAL WORK (psychotherapy or clinical observation) in a small group, or individually to a School teacher, in order to show, not his knowledge, but her/his sensibility in dealing with psychological matters.
6. During the Summer School the applicant will have her/his SELECTION INTERVIEWS with an ad hoc appointed Committee, formed by two analysts, who will mainly consider the following aspects:
   1. Suitability of the personality for psychoanalytical work
   2. Bent for psychological thinking
   3. Motivation
   4. Integration and activity in the local group of colleagues
   5. Age (preferably 30-45)
   6. General cultural background
   7. Kind of University degree (preferably with training in health profession)
   8. Knowledge of foreign languages
   9. Clinical experience in psychotherapy
   10. Clinical experience with psychiatric patients
   11. Number of attended EPI and PIEE Schools and psychoanalytic education activities
   12. Possibility to regularly attend EPI Schools and Seminars
   13. Feasibility of his/her project for psychoanalytic training
   14. Financial possibility to complete the training.

Qualities in one area may compensate lacks in others, but the general  impression should be high. On this basis the  EPI will select each year a LIMITED NUMBER OF NEW TRAINEES.

1. If the applicant will later adopt a different project of training analysis, before beginning it, s/he should consult the Associate Director for Training in order to get another informed opinion.
2. The positive outcome of the first selection interview is valid THREE YEARS. If after such a period the applicant has not yet begun her/his training analysis, the interview should be repeated.
3. With an accepted project of training, the applicant may apply to the IPA for a financial loan, if it is indispensable to realize her/his project.
4. The applicants, who have passed their first selection interview, are requested to inform the  EPI  Training Section about when they begin their analysis and who their analyst is. Only after this they will be considered as  EPI REGISTERED ANALYSANDS.
5. All the  EPI trainees (Registered Analysands and Candidates) are expected to attend at least one  EPI  School or Seminar a year.
6. All the  EPI trainees (Registered Analysands and Candidates) must choose a MENTOR, to whom they may refer for any information or advice about their training. The available Mentors are all the EPI Board or Staff Members or Advisors. The idea of mentorship is to have an unbiased person to discuss all problems of training and to have an experienced analyst different from the supervisor with whom they can discuss their training progress. Trainees must send to their mentor a report on all their training activity at the end of every year.
7. The training analysis may be taken only with a training psychoanalyst of any IPA Society or an IPA Member authorized by the  EPI to conduct training analysis. As a rule, training analysis is performed 4 times a week for not less than 4 years. Training analysis can continue beyond qualification.
8. The  EPI respects the absolute confidentiality of the training
   analyst-candidate relationship. Therefore no kind of communication, either
   formal or informal, by the training analyst, pertaining to his/her trainee in analysis, will be requested, required or acceptable with regards to any activity of the PIEE.
9. The Institute may authorize a limited number of “shuttle analyses” or “concentrated analyses” in those areas where applicants for training have no opportunity to undergo a standard analysis, due to their geographical isolation or other special circumstances.
10. A “shuttle analysis” or a “concentrated analysis” may be performed only with training analysts and should possibly occupy not fewer than 100 sessions a year, for not less than 4 years. Admittedly it is a rough estimate and rests on the responsibility of candidates and their training analysts to find their own course and termination. Skype sessions are admitted in shuttle analysis, but only as additional sessions and cannot be counted for the necessary minimum of 100 a year and 400 in total. In shuttle and concentrated analysis are not acceptable more than two sessions in the same day.
11. When Registered Analysands have the impression (usually discussed and clarified with their analyst too) that their analysis has developed to a certain degree, which allows them a better insight into their inner world, they may apply for the INTERVIEWS to be ADMITTED TO CLINICAL WORK IN PSYCHOANALYSIS. Applications for these interviews should not be made before at least 300 sessions of individual analysis (150 in case of “shuttle” or “concentrated” analysis). During these interviews an ad hoc appointed Committee (formed by two experienced analysts) will evaluate together with the applicant whether it seems appropriate that they begin their first supervised analysis. Also their project for the supervision and for the theoretical teaching will be discussed. If the outcome of these second interviews is positive, the applicant becomes officially a CANDIDATE OF THE INSTITUTE.  During the admission interview the evaluation concerns different aspects (admission to analytical clinical work) than the evaluation of the first interview, so that a positive result of the first selection interview doesn’t mean that the admission interview will be necessarily positive. Admission interviews are performed in  EPI Schools and Seminars and the application should be sent not less than one month before the beginning of the School to the Associate Director for Training.
12. During a EPI School or Seminar the applicant must present again some CLINICAL WORK (psychotherapy or clinical observation) in a small group, or individually to a School teacher, in order to show, not his knowledge, but how her/his sensibility in dealing with psychological matters has developed.
13. The positive outcome of the admission interviews is valid THREE YEARS. If after such a period the applicant has not yet begun her/his supervision case and her theoretical teaching programme, the interviews should be repeated. In case of negative outcome, both the Selection so as the Admission interview, may be repeated and the Training Committee may establish at what minimal time distance.
14. The Candidate will do intense use of SEMINARS for theoretical teaching, attending each year not less than one  EPI School or Seminar (lasting a week) and the special seminar activities for EPI candidates. Seminars may be attended (as guests) also in Institutes of any other IPA Psychoanalytic Society and in part also in recognized seminar activities organized by the Local Groups. All the Candidates are suggested to have also some teaching on child and adolescent psychoanalysis. Theoretical seminar teaching should last four years for a total of 360 hours. (The Institute Training Section may give more information about possibilities, where theoretical teaching may be attended.)
15. Only after becoming a Candidate may one begin their first psychoanalytic treatment four times a week under SUPERVISION. After a certain time, having discussed it with their first supervisor, Candidates may begin their second analytic treatment in supervision with a second supervisor. It is recommended to discuss the matter with the mentor too.
16. One of the two supervised treatments may be performed with a child or an adolescent patient. In this case the supervisor should be a training analyst qualified for child and/or adolescent analysis.
17. Supervisions have to  be performed by training analysts. The case should be conducted with min 4 sessions per week on the couch. (At least during the major part of the treatment). As a rule supervisions are weekly, and continue for at least two years each, for a total number of 40 supervision sessions a year, which makes 160 in total for both cases. It is recommended that the Candidate and the supervisor discuss the choice of the case to be supervised before the treatment begins, whether is the patient adapt for training purposes.
18. The Supervisors should sent every year a report on the supervision to the supervisee’s Mentor.
19. Candidates are requested to inform the EPI Training Section about when they begin their supervision and who their supervisors are. Due to special circumstances supervision may be conducted by Skype, phone or sometimes also by email or fax, though a certain number of face-to-face supervisions are essential.
20. Candidates, who have treated their training cases during their shuttle analysis, are recommended to have a third supervision with a patient, which treatment is not periodically interrupted because of her/his analyst’s shuttle travelling. This may be a group supervision too and may be done also after they have been accepted as IPA Members.
21. Candidates may begin their first psychoanalytic treatment four times a week only under SUPERVISION. The plan for supervision (the supervisor, setting and frame of supervision) must be approved by the EPI Training Section before the supervision starts. After an appropriate time, having discussed it with their first supervisor and the EPI Training Section (by writing to the EPI Associate Director for Training/Individual Curriculum, Candidates may begin their second control analytic case under supervision. The second supervisor, the setting of the second control analysis and format of supervision need to be agreed with and confirmed by the EPI Training Section. It is recommended to discuss the matter with the mentor too.
22. One of the two supervised treatments may be performed with a child or an adolescent patient. In this case the supervisor should be a training analyst qualified for child and/or adolescent analysis.
23. Supervisions may be performed by training analysts. As a rule supervisions are weekly, and continue for at least two years each, for a total number of not less than 40 supervision sessions a year, which makes a minimum of 160 in total for both cases. It is recommended that the Candidate and the supervisor discuss the choice of the case to be supervised before the treatment begins, whether is the patient adapt for training purposes.
24. The Supervisors must send every year a report on the supervision for the preceding year to the EPI Associate Director of Training/Individual Curriculum and to the supervisee’s Mentor by the 1^st of March at the latest.
25. Due to special circumstances supervision may be conducted by Skype or phone, though a certain number of face-to-face supervisions are essential and indispensable.
26. Candidates, who have treated their training cases during their shuttle analysis, are recommended to have a third supervision with a patient, which treatment is not periodically interrupted because of her/his analyst’s shuttle travelling. This may be a group supervision too and may be done also after they have been accepted as IPA Members.
27. During the whole training it is assumed that the Candidate will actively participate in his/her home psychoanalytic group activities, in the Institute activities, especially at the EPI Annual School for Members and Candidates, and also in international psychoanalytic events, such as activities of other IPA Institutes and Societies.
28. It is recommended that a Candidate may be acquainted with and have a certain experience with psychiatric patients, working or volunteering for a certain time in a Psychiatric institution.
29. After having completed the program of theoretical and clinical seminars (TSR or its equivalent) and when both supervisions have been continuing at least for two years, the Candidate may apply for IPA DIRECT MEMBERSHIP. The application is sent to the Institute Associate Director for Training (Individual Curriculum), with enclosed Curriculum Vitae not less than 3 months before the final evaluation would take place. The Candidate must still add a certificate in which her/his analyst writes just the date of the beginning and the date of the end of the training analysis (or that it is still continuing). The Candidate will be informed of who will be his/her evaluators and s/he will send them the written reports on the two supervised cases. One copy is to be sent also also to the EPI Associate Director for Training/Individual Curriculum. (The Institute Training Section for Individual Training will give more detailed information about how these clinical reports may be written.) The evaluators will receive the reports of the supervisors as well and will then discuss with the Candidate his or her work. The Candidate’s positive engagements in her/his local analytic group work will be also considered. If approved, the Institute will propose to the IPA Executive Council to put the Candidate’s appointment as Direct Member on the agenda of the next IPA Board Meeting, where it will be voted. When voted on positively, the Candidate will become officially an IPA Direct Member. The Board Meeting of IPA is held two times a year.

The Institute is applying these guidelines in a flexible way, considering that the training in new areas is rather difficult to perform on a completely standardized basis. Productive alternative views are always welcome and will be jointly discussed and evaluated. Therefore some exceptions on some points could be accepted, if there are reasons to do so. But it is recommended to the Candidates to avoid realizing a curriculum in which every point will be on or below the minimum standards, while it will be appreciated if the minimal performance on some points will be somehow balanced by richer content on other points.

Many Candidates had begun their training at a time when some points of these guidelines were not yet in use (e.g. first or second interviews where not required or could be performed in other Institutes). This will be considered from case to case, considering that rules must not be changed retroactively. When the registration forms of the Institute’s Registered Analysands and Candidates arrive at the Training Section, the Institute will send to everybody the confirmation of his or her position and the requirements to which he or she is expected to conform for the future part of the training.

Candidates are not to start standard psychoanalytic treatments without supervision before their final evaluation. Only psychoanalytic psychotherapy should be practised until that time. This is to avoid the possibility that wild analytic practice could be encouraged just by IPA Candidates (or Registered Analysands).