FORMATION PROGRAM

As Freud insisted, psychoanalysis requires by its very nature a training that is not comparable to that of any other profession, since it implies the experience of the subjective division between the unconscious and consciousness and, therefore, the confrontation with a subjective truth that escapes a person’s awareness and in relation to which intellectual knowledge functions mainly as resistance.

The notion of “training” does not reflect the specificity of the formation of the analyst. “Training” suggests an apprenticeship in knowledge, conceived of as a set of procedures to develop a practical expertise. The formation of the analyst, however, involves much more than a technical apprenticeship or an intellectual process of learning; it also implies the passage through an experience that provokes a subjective transformation and the possibility of the assumption of a new ethical position. The notion of “formation,” from the Latin formare (to give form to), is more consistent with the uniqueness of the analytic act, since, as Webster's Collegiate Dictionary indicates, “formation” is the act of creating or causing to exist.

Après-Coup Psychoanalytic Association follows Freud’s teaching that a personal analysis is the necessary condition for the formation of the analyst. The Association also subscribes to Freud’s assertion that analytic studies include several humanistic disciplines. A broad field of differentiated disciplines, together with analytic and scientific studies, will prepare the way for the analyst to listen to the subject's discourse in its cultural diversity and will become the foundation for a psychoanalyst’s continuing education. The coming into being of an analyst as the result of an analysis can then be seen as only a first major step into a universe of learning that will accompany him or her throughout life.

Procedures for the Completion of the Training Program called
The Formation Program

There are four facets to the Formation Program: Courses, Active Participation and Research, Clinical Analysis, and Control Analysis (Analyse de control, as Jacques Lacan named it).

Courses

Après-Coup Formation Program includes four general areas of study:

1. Psychoanalytic Theory
2. Psychopathology and Diagnosis
3. Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Subjectivity
4. Clinical Practice, Research, Technique, and Ethics

It is expected that a Student (Analysand-in-Formation / AF) complete ten points in each of these areas in order to complete the educational phase of the program, plus four points in reading groups and four points in cartels. The total number of points required to complete the Formation Program is 48.

Seminars are designed with varying lengths and assigned point equivalents based on the time and concentration of work involved. Points are used internally as part of the administration of the program and to record official attendance.

The AF is free to design an individual program, while adhering to structured standards. Faculty Members advise the Analysands-in-Formation in their choice of seminars and in their design of a balanced program. Advance notification of any changes or modifications in the requirements of the Formation Program is provided to AFs to allow discussion prior to the adoption of the new requirements.

Active Participation and Research

Active participation and research refers primarily to an AF’s attendance at, and contribution to reading groups and cartels. In addition, an AF is expected to make presentations to the Association in the form of papers, lectures, workshops, etc. as an expression of ongoing research and work in psychoanalytic theory and practice.

A reading group is a group of any size that meets regularly to read and study a topic chosen by its coordinator. A cartel is a working group that includes not less than three nor more than five participants. Each participant is committed to producing an independent and original written research work on a shared topic. A cartel has a starting time and a time of completion. Periodically the participants of the cartel present the progress of their work to an outside analyst chosen and appointed at the start of the cartel; this analyst is called the Plus-One.

For more information on cartels, click here.

Clinical formation requires a Personal Analysis and Control Analysis

Personal Analysis

The Association places no restrictions on the choice of a personal analyst by an Analysand, other than that the person chosen be recognized as an analyst by the general psychoanalytic community through his or her clinical work, publications and public presentations, and be licensed or considered eligible for licensure.

Control Analysis

An Analysand in Formation is requested to choose two different senior analysts from the Association to undertake with each of them separately a Control Analysis of his/her clinical work. When this work is advanced, the AF may request that a Control Analyst of the Association become his or her Presenting Analyst. The Association requires that an AF be in intensive psychoanalysis for at least three years before requesting a Control Analysis. In order to complete the Formation Program, an AF must have two Presenting Analysts. The fee for control analysis is arranged personally with the control analyst and varies between $80 and $150 per session.

Presenting Analysts

A Presenting Analyst is a Senior Analyst of the Association who makes a commitment to follow an Analysand-in-Formation through the completion of the program.

To advance in the Formation Program an AF must have such a commitment from his/her Presenting Analyst. It is understood that Control Analysis can only take place in a language in which both AF and Analyst are perfectly fluent and that cannot take place in writing.

A Control Analyst has the option to accept or refuse the request to be a Presenting Analyst. In the case that a request is refused, the Analyst may advise the AF about the continuation of his or her formation. In the case that a request is accepted, the Presenting Analyst takes the responsibility of accompanying the clinical work of the AF until such time that this work can be presented to the final council, called the Presenting Council.

Presenting Council

For an Analysand-in-Formation to complete his or her program, the two Presenting Analysts must agree, independently of one another, to present the work of the AF to the Council. These are separate and independent presentations.

The Council is composed ad hoc for each presentation. The composition of the Council is decided by the Formation Committee and approved by the Analysand-in-Formation.

The Council is composed of at least five people: four Analysts, chosen from among the Analysts and the Control Analysts of Après-Coup, and one Analysand-in- Formation other than the AF whose work is being presented. The Council makes a decision regarding the work presented by the Control Analyst. This decision is based upon an evaluation of the transmission of psychoanalytic work among the Analysand-in- Formation, the Presenting Analyst, and the Council. If the decisions of the two separate Councils are favorable, the AF is considered to have completed the Control Analysis part of the Formation Program of Après-Coup Psychoanalytic Association. If the decision of one or both Councils is not favorable, the Council/s may advise the AF about the completion of his or her Control Analysis program.

A process is available to handle any appeal regarding the Formation Program. The Analysand-in-Formation writes a letter addressed to the Formation Committee explaining his or her position. The Formation Committee selects an ad hoc committee comprised of any three Analysts of Après-Coup, excluding the AF's analyst and supervisors. The ad hoc committee schedules a meeting for the AF to present and discuss his or her position. Within two weeks the ad hoc committee communicates its findings to the AF by letter.

Completion of the Program

The completion of the Formation Program of Après-Coup Psychoanalytic Association includes the completion of the educational phase of the program (48 points as described above) and the successful presentations to the Councils of the AF clinical work by two independent Control Analysts of the Association.

Upon request, a letter of completion of the program is provided.