Psychodynamic Training Program

Director: Shelly Goldklank, Ph.D.

The clinical program at Ferkauf takes pride in its long tradition of psychodynamic training. All students in the clinical program receive broad exposure to psychodynamic therapy in the form of a required didactic course. Students interested in concentrated psychodynamic training may elect to complete the psychodynamic practicum toward the fulfillment of the required advanced two-year psychotherapy practicum.

While every student in the Psychodynamic Training Program is exposed to classical theoretical concepts, the basic thrust of the coursework and practica is on contemporary psychoanalysis. This includes a focus on the exploration and use of the therapeutic relationship in the here and now, the affective interactions of the therapeutic dyad, unconscious communications, and the use of the therapist’s self to illuminate the dynamics of the therapy. We train students to use contemporary conceptualizations of transference and countertransference as some of the primary material in the sessions. Our offerings within this orientation tap both the heterogeneity of the tradition itself and a variety of modalities in which it finds expression.

Students may learn interpersonal, object relational, Freudian, and self-psychological theories, in individual, couples and family courses and practica. To fulfill the concentration, students have the option to take didactic courses emphasizing research and treatment, and receive practicum training in the third and fourth years.

Coursework and Practicum

Review the required coursework and practicum (PDF).

Overview of Advanced-Level Training

Practicum

Students enrolled in the Individual Psychodynamic Practicum are assigned individual psychotherapy patients from the Parnes Psychology Clinic. Fourth-year students enrolled in the Psychodynamic Track are placed in the Advanced Psychodynamic Lab. A particularly distinctive feature of this program is the unique opportunity to attend small group discussions with contemporary leaders in the field. Some of our recent discussants have included Mark Blechner, PhD, author of Sex Changes: Transformations in Society and Psychoanalysis; Edgar Levenson, MD, author of The Purloined Self; and Darlene Ehrenberg, PhD, author of The Intimate Edge.

Supervision

A highlight of our program is the significant amount of supervision that students in the Psychodynamic Practicum receive.

• For individual psychotherapy, each student is paired with a licensed clinical psychologist for weekly supervision that takes place at supervisors’ private offices
• Group supervision is also provided in a weekly, two-hour lab. The lab group consists of approximately five students and is led by a clinical professor who is also a practicing psychoanalytically oriented therapist. All adjunct clinical professors and clinical supervisors associated with the psychodynamic labs have received extensive postdoctoral training and are graduates of highly esteemed psychoanalytic institutes. These include the William Alanson White Institute, the New York University Post Doctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, National Institute for the Psychotherapies, and Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis.

Therapy Practicum Lab Supervisors:

Dr. Barbara Belch
Dr. Shelly Goldklank
Dr. Martin Rock
Dr. Pascal Sauvayre
Dr. Leslie Warfield

The Family and Couple Therapy Practicum

This practicum trains students in a psychoanalytic-systemic integrative framework, with a great deal of exposure to a range of systemic orientations. Students receive intensive supervision that includes both “live” supervision, through the one-way mirror in the classroom and weekly offsite supervision with a senior systems therapist. This weekly supervision uses recordings of each of the student's sessions for the supervisory material.

Family and Couple Practicum Lab Supervisors:

Dr. William Allured
Dr. Richard Briggs
Dr. Shoshana Bulow
Dr. Gladys Fox
Ms. Stacey Fredericks
Dr.Richard Fulmer
Dr. Francine Godet
Dr Samantha Lutz
Dr. Barbara Russek

Clinical Supervision Training

Advanced students may also learn to supervise from an interpersonal-relational psychodynamic perspective in the Clinical Supervision course. Students from other theoretical orientations are welcomed and discussion of integrative clinical approaches is encouraged. In this course, fourth-year students receive supervision on their supervision of first-year students’ clinical interviews. In addition, theories of supervision and clinical, developmental, ethical and personal issues in the teaching and learning of psychotherapy are discussed. Students are encouraged to present the dilemmas, successes and problems in their own supervisory experiences.

Contact Us

For inquiries, contact Megan Auster-Rosen at mauster-rosen@yu.edu or Elizabeth Penn at elizabeth.penn@psych.ferkauf.yu.edu.