Beyond Progression: Devising a New Training Model for Candidate Assessment, Advancement, and Advising at Columbia

Area of Science:

• Psychoanalysis
• Psychological Training
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Traditional psychoanalytic progression models caused candidate anxiety and assessment uncertainty.
• Candidates exhibited avoidance of difficult patient issues and reluctance to seek supervision.
• These issues highlighted significant flaws in established psychoanalytic candidate assessment and advancement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To restructure psychoanalytic training programs at the Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.
• To replace traditional assessment methods with a more transparent and objective system.
• To reduce pressure on clinical decision-making and trainee-faculty communication.

Main Methods:

• Eliminated progression committees, advisor roles, and routine candidate discussions.
• Implemented confidential mentorship and a predictable trainee advancement system.
• Determined analytic competency solely through written feedback on learning objectives.

Main Results:

• Reduced required months of supervised analysis and longest case length.
• Accepted three-times-weekly analyses for credit.
• Aimed to increase transparency, objectivity, and predictability in training.

Conclusions:

• The restructured program seeks to enhance the psychoanalytic training experience.
• Innovations are designed to alleviate candidate stress and improve communication.
• Ongoing evaluation will assess the impact of these significant training reforms.