• Affiliates will be invited to selected meetings, and be eligible to attend certain courses and workshops.
• Affiliates receive a one year complimentary subscription to Contemporary Psychoanalysis, the internationally acclaimed journal representing Interpersonal-Relational psychoanalysis, and will also receive the Institute newsletters.
• Affiliates will be invited to at least one yearly meeting devoted to contemporary developments and training opportunities in psychoanalysis.
• Affiliates will be invited to assist in Institute projects (such as the yearly conference sponsored by the PEP-CD-ROM, or the interdisciplinary conference being planned by the Child and Adolescence Treatment Program).
• Affiliates will have opportunities to discuss individual research plans, consider how to obtain clinical experience, obtain referrals for low-cost psychotherapy or psychoanalysis, and receive advice in career planning from a graduate analyst in one’s own professional field.

I will personally be available to talk or meet, to discuss individual educational or professional questions, and, upon request, I will arrange an introduction to an Institute graduate who is willing to serve as an advisor, sounding board, informant, supervisor, or professional contact. Such interactions may occur in person for those in the New York metropolitan area, or by telephone or e-mail.

Does this sound too good to be true? You are probably wondering why the White Institute would make such an offer. The answer is simply that we are concerned about the lack of information and opportunity offered to students and graduates, as outlined in the attached fact sheet We are proud of our history, our heritage, and the variety of services we offer. We want you to know about who we are and what we do.

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The Hard Facts facing Psychoanalysis Today

Contemporary university education in all branches of mental health has taken a sharp detour from serving those interested in psychoanalytic theory and practice.

Two very different forces are responsible for this shift. First, advances in neuro-physiology, biochemistry and other hard sciences have been phenomenal. Research minded educators are thrilled with the possibilities engendered by recent findings. And these “hard data” seemingly promise to open up new frontiers of understanding that accounts of psychotherapy treatments cannot address. While undergraduates still are offered a rudimentary introduction to psychological development and psychopathology, most coursework, and most faculty excitement centers on the experimental area.

At the same time that scientism became dominant in the universities and medical schools, social action initiatives focusing on the well being of individuals were being attacked as wrong headed and ineffective. Programs that serviced psychological needs gave way to those that promised wider impact and involved goals defined in socio-political terms. Treatment and rehabilitation gave way to punishment and retraining.

The second pressure against psycho-therapeutic interventions is financial. Insurance companies, currently dominated by a managed care orientation, have virtually ended payments for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. In the absence of funding, interns and residents often are unable to have any first hand experience of working with people in talking therapies. Hospital programs are closing, opportunities for training are disappearing, and executives are lauding the cost savings. We are becoming a society looking for quick fixes, behavioral routines that train compliance, pharmacological plans that purport to revolutionize personality without self-awareness, and self-help regimes that depend on group support.

But you already know all of this. Indeed you may even think that this is how every one in mental health is currently thinking. After all, the media regularly report that the wave of the future is counseling, coaching, training, medication or nutrition.

But, psychoanalysis is not dead. It is not even dying. I can introduce you to a large community of professionals who believe that the most effective way to treat the problems of the human mind is through the uniquely personal, intimate interaction of the psychoanalytic relationship. Despite what the critics wish or the cynics imagine, this is perhaps the richest, most exciting period in psychoanalysis since the movement began, just about a century ago.

Contemporary psychoanalysis is in a state of dynamic flux, involving rethinking every major tenet of theory and technique. This turmoil is not fueled by economic pressure. Quite the contrary. It has been generated by new insights into the mysteries of the human mind, involving how personality develops and how it may be changed. The basic conceptual model of the psychoanalyst as a silent figure, hidden behind a formidable facade of technical rules and unintelligible jargon, is evolving into a model of interacting personalities, influencing each other to achieve dynamic impact.

Even the most traditional psychoanalytic schools are undergoing major revision. Interpersonal psychoanalysis, such as that traditionally taught at the White Institute, is becoming recognized as offering a conceptual base for a new vision of analytic theory and therapeutic action.

Another major shift in analytic thought involves the usefulness of medication and other conjoint therapeutic modalities. No longer believing it is necessary to work in isolation from other factors that effect human life, psychoanalysts are rapidly expanding collaboration with other professionals.

In addition, admittedly a bit late, psychoanalysis is offering new hope for dealing with the most pressing contemporary psychological problems. Acknowledging the effects of early trauma has transformed psychoanalytic theory, while psychoanalytic treatment provides a powerful tool to alleviate the suffering of those who experienced all manner of psychological distress in childhood.

Psychoanalysis is expanding. It is exploring new realms of understanding, discovering new clinical techniques, and finding wholly new applications. Psychoanalysis is no longer restricted to the elite few. It is reaching new treatment populations, being used for every age group and diagnostic category, and joining with medication and other modalities.

And finally, on a more personal note, I must add that psychoanalysis remains one of the most exhilarating, transforming, and inspiring of life’s experiences. And it works! As an elderly practitioner at this institute said recently, “A person who has never been in analysis can never understand it, but anyone who has ever been psychoanalyzed will never forget it!”

So how does this relate to you?

Even though it is difficult to incorporate dynamic thinking into undergraduate and even graduate training programs, we can help you find possibilities for learning about these ideas, becoming part of a professional community committed to exploring the vast unknown of the human unconscious. It is even possible to begin planning to pursue psychoanalytic training and to obtain assistance in doing so. The White Institute has made the commitment that every qualified professional who wishes to pursue psychoanalytic treatment or psychoanalytic training should be helped to do so.

If you still long for a meaningful career, one that will be endlessly fascinating and deeply fulfilling; if you remain curious about the human psyche; if you are willing to question the conventional wisdom and confront cynical stereotypes, then we at the William Alanson White Institute are available to help.