The Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program was born out the confluence of expressed need from community therapists, to better understand their therapeutic experience in their daily practice and to complement the clinical tools available to them from the perspective of a psychoanalytic viewpoint. In order to address that need, interested members of the WBCPS have set up an accessible, rigorous course that combine a discussion of the clinical experience of the members of the course and the provision of suitable instruction in technique and theory. The popularity of the series and the appreciation by the participants for the analysts' contribution resulted in The Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program (PPTP) that has been providing continuous seminars for the past four years: 2001-2004.
The PPTP has attempted to cover a wide range of psychoanalytic topics, themes, and orientations in studying how different dynamic models can be applied to the clinical material presented by therapists in the field.
Structure
The sessions are divided in two even portions: The first portion is a theoretical group discussion on assigned readings. The faculty acts as facilitators for the discussion. The other is a clinical presentation by a participant and the theory that would be applied to it, readings, and as a springboard for discussion of clinical technique.
Topics
The topics and readings were chosen by the PPTP Committee comprised of Endre Koritar, Chair, Judith Setton-Markus, Secretary, Elie Debbane, and Lynne Superstein-Raber. The choices were based on a survey of other Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Programs in Seattle, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, D.C., and others. However, the PPTP chose to follow only organizational infrastructure structure, leaving the selection of the course content to the PPTP Committee. The basic premise of the Committee is to offer a view of the theory from the major schools of thought in psychoanalysis: Classical, Ego Psychology, Object Relations, and Self Psychology. The articles chosen reflect these various theoretical approaches in interpreting the clinical material.
Themes
The themes of the seminars are the following: The Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Technique based on Etchegoyan's text, Introduction to Psychoanalytic History and Concepts, Models of the Mind, Sexuality and Gender, Melanie Klein Series, On Character Formation, Infant Observation, The Earliest Experience, planned: From Part-Object to Whole Object.
The Faculty
The Faculty of the WBCPS facilitate the seminars: Hassan Azim, Elie Debbane, Endre Koritar, Sid Perzow, Elmor Smit, Judith Setton-Markus, Steve Rush, Lynne Superstein-Raber, Rose Vasta, and Fran Wilt. All are members of the WBCPS and practicing therapists in the community.
Accreditation
The Seminar Series has been accredited for MAINPRO level 1 credits by Canadian Psychiatric Association. The PPTP program has provided 255 potential credits (based on attendance) to participants over four years.
Mission
The goal of the program is to serve as a meeting place for those interested in psychoanalytic theory and its application to clinical practice. During the course of interaction between analysts and participants, a work group atmosphere will help all appreciate the richness of psychoanalytic theory and its importance in helping clinicians understand their clients more fully.
