Application & Admission
Training at the New School for Existential Psychoanalysis, though based in San Francisco, is conducted exclusively on a virtual basis. It is open to all, depending on clinical licensure and academic qualifications. Applicants should have a graduate degree in psychology or related discipline, some clinical experience in psychoanalysis, and an abiding interest in existential philosophy. Our faculty and supervisors are worldwide, including the United States, Brazil, Australia, Great Britain, and Canada. Candidates are welcome the world over. All teaching is conducted in English.
Training is comprised of weekly theoretical and clinical seminars comprised of 90 minutes each and individual supervision of two concurrent control cases, with a minimum of two years duration. Candidates who have not been in psychoanalysis should seek an analyst to work with in their geographical location during training. Candidates are expected to participate in weeklong, annual in-person gatherings (in locations to be determined) in order to get acquainted, and to bond.
Upon completion of training a Certificate in Existential Psychoanalysis will be awarded.
Application Process:
1. Initial Inquiry: Interested applicants should reach out to Dr. Michael Guy Thompson at [email protected] and Dr. James Norwood at
[email protected] for initial interviews and discussions.
2. Application Materials: Following the initial discussion, if you are interested in applying, please submit the following electronically to the same email addresses listed above:
- Curriculum vitae (CV)/Resume
- Application Fee (details on fee amount can be found on this link here )
3. Interview with Training Committee: Following review of application materials, shortlisted candidates will be contacted to schedule interviews with two other members of the New School for Existential Psychoanalysis Training Committee
4. Group Interview with Clinical Presentation: Final-stage candidates will participate in a group interview format with all four members of our Training Committee. During this stage, you will have the opportunity to present a clinical case and engage in discussion with our faculty.
FEES
The application fee is $250. The cost for training is $5,000 per year, $1250 per term. Once you have been approved for training, a non-refundable deposit of $1,250 will secure your place, and will be applied to your first 8-week term. This training fee covers teacher honoraria and administration. The fee for individual supervision is fixed at $150 USD per session, payable to the supervisor. You will be expected to carry two control cases for the duration of training, each with its own supervisor.
The day of the week and time that we convene for training sessions is generally from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm Pacific Time, Tuesdays. We expect our students will reside in various parts of the world, including North America, South America, Europe, so meeting times have been set at a time that is feasible for all.
Inquiries
should be directed via email to:
New School for Existential Psychoanalysis
2196 Union Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
415.683.3353
[email protected]
Free Association Clinic for Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis relieves suffering by helping us think through things that we are usually too anxious or distracted to think about. By confiding to another person what comes to mind, we enter into a collaboration through which, together, we endeavor to make sense of the conflicts and confusion that lie at the bottom of our symptoms, anguish, and unhappiness. By focusing our attention on the everyday problems that concern us, we eventually arrive at the meaning of our suffering, and find a way through. Free Association convenes a low cost clinic in San Francisco that refers prospective patients to candidates who reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. Candidates located elsewhere are obliged to seek their own referrals.
“We are born into a world where alienation awaits us. We are potentially men, but are in an alienated state… the ordinary person is a shriveled, desiccated fragment of what a person can be. The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man.”
–R.D. LAING