HISTORY OF PSP
The Philadelphia School
of Psychoanalysis was formed
in 1971 with the
encouragement of Dr. Hyman
Spotnitz and other
experienced senior analysts.
It was founded as a sister
organization of the
Manhattan Center for
Advanced Psychoanalytic
Studies. PSP’s first class
consisted of 15 students
with a faculty of 3. As of
1981, the student body
exceeded 100 and the faculty
numbered over 25. Classes
were initially held at the
Combs College of Music in
Germantown. In 1975, PSP
became a charter member of
the National Association for
Accreditation in
Psychoanalysis (NAAP). Since
then, PSP has followed NAAP
and ABAP (American Board for
Accreditation in
Psychoanalysis) requirements
for admission, training, and
graduation. From 1975 to
1997, classes were held at
Drexel University in West
Philadelphia.
In 1997, the Philadelphia
School of Psychoanalysis
moved to its present
location, a beautiful and
historic building in Center
City Philadelphia, 313 South
Sixteenth Street. The
building is also home to our
clinical training facility,
the Philadelphia
Consultation Center.
The School and its Clinic
do not discriminate against
persons on the basis of age,
sex, race, religion, sexual
preference or ethnic origin
with respect to any of its
educational and
administrative policies and
practices.
PHILOSOPHY OF PSP
PSP’s philosophy of
training begins with Freud’s
definition of psychoanalysis
as “any line of
investigation which takes
transference and resistance
as a starting point of its
work.” The curriculum
therefore encompasses the
broad spectrum of
psychoanalytic tradition
including classical
analysis, ego and self
psychology, object
relations, contributions of
Ferenczi, Klein, Reich,
Sullivan and many others who
have expanded upon or
modified Freud’s original
discoveries.
The School focuses on the
theory of treatment, in
particular on the
contributions of the Modern
Analytic School of thought
developed by Dr. Hyman
Spotnitz and others. The
treatment approach is
comprehensive and pragmatic,
sanctioning interventions
that expand the range of
people and groups who can be
helped successfully by
psychotherapeutic means.
Three contributions of Dr.
Hyman Spotnitz are of
particular interest at PSP:
- The detailed
analysis and
descriptions of
narcissistic
transference,
countertransference and
resistances found in all
patients and therapists.
- Use of a wide range
of interventions which
are maturational with
people who do not
benefit from, or who are
damaged by interpretive
interventions.
- Guidelines for
determining effectively
when a patient or group
of patients are
emotionally ready for a
particular kind of
intervention.
These principles are also
applied to the education and
training offered at PSP.
While some courses emphasize
cognitive learning, others
are also experiences in
modern group analysis, and
as such provide the student
with an opportunity to learn
the practice of
psychotherapy in a more
effective way than they
would at most universities
or other institutions. |
