One-Year Introductory Programme in Psychoanalytic Theory

Structure of the Training

The training has a total duration of eight years and includes:

Personal Therapy

The personal therapeutic experience extends throughout the entire eight-year duration of the training and comprises two consecutive components.

During the first four years, trainees undertake individual analytically oriented therapy at a frequency of three sessions per week.

During the following four years, trainees undertake group analytically oriented therapy at a frequency of one session per week.

This sequential experience of individual and group therapy constitutes a central component of the training and enables trainees to experience directly both the dyadic analytic relationship and the dynamics of the analytic group field.

Seminars in Psychoanalytic Theory

Weekly seminars in psychoanalytic theory are conducted throughout the eight years of training. The theoretical component covers the historical development of psychoanalytic thought, classical and contemporary psychoanalytic theories, theories of psychological development, psychopathology, theory of technique, transference and countertransference, as well as the particular theoretical and technical dimensions of individual and group analytic therapy.

Supervised Clinical Work

Trainees undertake four years of systematic supervision of clinical cases. Cases presented for supervision must be in therapy at a frequency of at least two sessions per week, in order to provide the continuity and intensity necessary for the observation and understanding of the analytic process.

Clinical Practice

A minimum of 120 hours of clinical practice in an appropriate clinical setting is required. The aim is to provide trainees with exposure to different forms of psychopathology and clinical presentations, and to develop their capacity for clinical observation, assessment, and understanding.

Infant Observation

The training includes weekly infant observation for a period of three to five years. Observation focuses on the development of the infant within the natural environment of their early relationships and aims to cultivate the capacity for detailed observation, an understanding of early psychological development, and the study of the formation of the earliest object relations.

Psychoanalytic Papers

Completion of the training requires the submission of two psychoanalytic papers:

• one theoretical paper, exploring in depth a particular area of psychoanalytic theory;
• and one clinical paper, based on supervised therapeutic work and the psychoanalytic understanding of the clinical process.

Individual and Group Analytic Work

Particular emphasis is placed on developing the trainee's capacity to understand psychological functioning both within the dyadic therapeutic relationship and within the complex field of the group. Individual and group analytic therapy are approached as related but distinct clinical practices, sharing a common psychoanalytic foundation while requiring a specific understanding of their respective therapeutic settings.

Programme Aims

The Two-Year Training Programme in the Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Projective Techniques is intended exclusively for psychologists and psychiatrists and provides systematic theoretical, technical and clinical training in the administration, processing and interpretation of these two projective tests.

The two-year structure allows participants to progress gradually from the acquisition of technical skills to the study of actual clinical material and the supervised integration of findings.

First Year — Theory, Administration and Technical Processing

The first year focuses on establishing the theoretical and technical foundations required for the use of both tests.

The principal areas of study include:

• Theory and history of projective methods.
• The concept of projection and the psychodynamic foundations of projective testing.
• The place of the Rorschach and TAT within clinical psychological assessment.
• Rorschach: conditions and techniques of administration, recording and inquiry.
• Systematic processing and coding of the Rorschach protocol.
• Formal characteristics, determinants, content and organisation of responses.
• TAT: selection and presentation of cards, instructions and recording of narratives.
• Structural and thematic analysis of TAT narratives.
• Fundamental principles of psychopathology and differential diagnostic thinking.
• Issues of reliability, validity, ethics and the limits of projective assessment.

Clinical protocols are introduced from the first year so that technical learning is connected from the outset with actual clinical material.

Second Year — Clinical Interpretation, Psychopathology and Supervision

During the second year, the emphasis shifts from technical processing towards clinical integration and psychodynamic understanding.

Areas of study include:

• Rorschach and personality organisation.
• Defence mechanisms and modes of psychological functioning.
• Object relations and representations of self and object.
• Affect regulation and impulse control.
• Organisation of thought and relationship to reality.
• TAT and unconscious fantasy.
• Conflicts, wishes, fears, defences and identifications within narrative material.
• Representations of relationships, dependency, aggression, loss, guilt, sexuality and intimacy.
• Neurotic, borderline, narcissistic, schizoid and psychotic functioning.
• Integrated use of the Rorschach and TAT.
• Integration of test findings with the clinical interview and clinical history.
• Differential diagnostic assessment.
• Integration of the clinical picture and preparation of a comprehensive psychological report.

Clinical Supervision

Clinical supervision constitutes a central and compulsory component of the second year, while the study and discussion of clinical examples begins during the first year.

Trainees present Rorschach and TAT protocols and work under supervision on administration, processing, clinical interpretation and the integration of findings.

Particular emphasis is placed on the clinician's ability to distinguish findings from interpretation, to substantiate clinical hypotheses, and to avoid both mechanistic diagnosis and unsupported overinterpretation of projective material.

Programme Structure

• Duration: Two academic years
• Year 1: Theory – Administration – Coding – Basic Clinical Processing
• Year 2: Advanced Clinical Interpretation – Psychopathology – Differential Diagnosis – Clinical Supervision
• Teaching method: Theoretical teaching, study of protocols, presentation of clinical cases and supervision.