Training & Education Programs

Institute Participation in the NYU Residency Training Program in Psychiatry

The Psychoanalytic Institute plays an integral part in the Residency Training Program in Psychiatry at New York University Medical Center, one of the largest and most prestigious psychiatric residency programs in the country. Institute faculty and candidates teach and supervise at every level of residents' education.

Supervision and Teaching
An important aspect of this education is the enrichment of the resident's understanding of the patient as a person. This understanding broadens the therapeutic armamentarium of the future psychiatrist. Beginning in the internship (PGY1) year, psychoanalysts from the Institute faculty introduce residents to relevant psychoanalytic concepts, demonstrating their applicability across the entire spectrum of patients. For example, seminars are taught in the psychiatric emergency room of Bellevue Hospital Center, designed to help the beginning resident learn how to interview, understand and treat patients who may be suicidal, violent, psychotic, antisocial or substance abusing.

In the PGY2 year, the psychoanalytic curriculum in the residency includes introductions to psychodynamic theory and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, psychodynamic aspects of inpatient psychiatry, and the meaning of medication. In the PGY3 year, there are courses on psychotherapeutic technique, further study of psychodynamic theory and listening, and a year-long continuous case seminar. The PGY4 curriculum contains an advanced continuous case seminar and courses on human sexuality, psychodynamic couples therapy and alternate schools of psychoanalytic theory. In the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program, Institute faculty members teach an introduction to child and adolescent psychotherapy and year-long child and adolescent continuous case seminars.

In addition to the didactic curriculum, Institute analysts and candidates provide most of the psychotherapy supervision for the Residency Training Program, meeting with residents on a weekly basis throughout the year. The Institute also offers an Elective in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for PGY4 residents who wish to augment their psychotherapy training with additional clinical and supervisory experience and a reading tutorial. Recently, analysts have been conducting process groups for interested residents. Analysts are also available for consultations and treatment of residents. There is usually no charge for these consultations.

Along with its involvement in teaching and supervising in the residency program, the Institute offers a special psychoanalytic track combining psychiatric and psychoanalytic education for qualified residents who know early on in their careers that they wish to become psychoanalysts.