Program Outline
The courses listed below are required in the Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy Psychoanalytic Program leading to NYS Licensure as a Psychoanalyst, in addition to the courses in the Clinical Fellowship Program.
Additional Requirements for NYS Psychoanalytic Licensure: Personal Analysis (300 hours), Case Supervision (150 hours), and a minimum of 300 Direct Clinical Experience are earned during the course of the program’s 4 years. After graduation from the program, the candidate for licensure will apply for a NYS Limited Permit, and any additional clinical hours can then be earned, in order to meet the NYS requirement of 750 hours of Direct Clinical Experience. Under the Limited Permit, the candidate will also take 2 Case Narrative examinations. For an additional program outline, click here.
Fees: In addition to the underlying Clinical Fellowship Tuition and Fees there is a $450 charge for each 15-hour course, and a $300 charge for each 10-hour course. (There is no additional tuition for the Introduction to Psychopathology and Diagnosis course.) A minimum of 2 courses are required per semester. Course registration is due 2 weeks prior to each scheduled course.
Sample Course Outline, in Addition to Clinical Fellowship Courses
Schedule of classes may vary.
YEAR I
Fall Semester
Elements of Therapeutic Communication and Process, 10 hours
Developmental Theory: Bowlby, Mahler and Stern, 15 hours
History of Psychoanalytic Thought, 15 hours
Diagnosis and the Body, 15 hours
Introduction to Diagnosis, DSM-IV, 15 hours
Spring Semester
Developmental Theory & Basic Intervention Strategies, 10 hours
The Development of Gender Identity, 15 hours
Transference, Countertransference, & Resistance: An Historical Overview, 15 hours
YEAR II
Fall Semester
Issues in Treatment, 10 hours
Dreaming, Dream Analysis, & Dreamwork, 15 hours
Understanding and Working With Personality Disorders, 10 hours
Developmental Theory: Freud, Erikson & Piaget, 15 hours
Spring Semester
Psychopathology I, 10 hours
Basic Psychoanalytical Concepts, 10 hours
Research Statistics, 15 hours
Resistance, Transference, Countertransference: Winnicott, 10 hours
YEAR III
Fall Semester
Psychopathology II, 10 hours
Attachment Issues in Treatment, 15 hours
The Development of Gender Identity, 10 hours
Family & Couples Therapy: a Systems, Gestalt and Psychoanalytic Perspective, 15 hours
Spring Semester
Advanced Seminar in the Gestalt Approach to Psychotherapy, 10 hours
Ethical Considerations in Analytic Practice, 15 hours
Sociocultural Issues and the Therapeutic Relationship, 10 hours
Case Seminar in Dreamwork, 10 hours
YEAR IV
Fall Semester
Advanced Gestalt Seminar, Transference and Countertransference, 10 hours
Object Relations, Self Psychology and Gestalt Therapy: an Integration, 10 hours
Case Seminar: Presentness and Presence, 10 hours
Psychoanalytic Research: The Case Study in Context, 15 hours
Spring Semester
Case Presentation Seminar, 10 hours
Resistance, Transference, Countertransference: Existential Issues, 10 hours
Case Seminar: Case Studies through the Life Cycle of Treatment, 10 hours
Case Seminar: The Person-in-Relation, 10 hours
* A 2-credit child abuse reporting requirement can be completed online, or at any of the regional centers approved by the NYSED. For information, click here.
Extended Psychoanalytic Course Descriptions,
listed by NYS-Required Content Areas
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY, BOWLBY, MAHLER & STERN
This seminar focuses on the developmental theories of Bowlby, Mahler and Stern, and their practical application to Gestalt Therapy. The course includes both lecture and demonstration/participation. Various techniques and strategies are explored for integrating developmental insights into the ongoing process of a Gestalt session.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Arleen Maiorano, LCSW, LP
DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY, FREUD, ERIKSON, & PIAGET
This course explores impairment of functioning and other symptoms in relationship to their genesis during the socialization process, from a physical, energetic perspective. We will work with memory recollection and in-the-moment re-experiencing of painful past episodes—where cognitive understanding is coupled with appropriate affect (abreaction). This working through process will be examined and discussed in detail, along with specific techniques for dealing with negative emotions and helping patients dispel the tension and confusion associated with repressed intra-psychic conflict.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Todd Senzon, MA, LP
DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY, ATTACHMENT
Attachment Theory is a psychological theory that provides a descriptive and empirical framework for interpersonal relationships throughout the life span. The central theme of Attachment Theory is that the infant-caregiver relationship informs styles of attachment which impact behaviors later in life. This course will explore in depth the work of John Bowlby, the first attachment theorist; Mary Ainsworth and her ground-breaking “strange situation” study; Margaret Main; and John Fonagy. The implications for psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and parental support will be addressed.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Connie Newman, LMHC, LCAT, LP
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
HISTORY OF PSYCHOANALYTIC THOUGHT
This course delineates the last 100 years of psychoanalysis and its evolution into its many theoretical perspectives, with the goal of providing the student with a deeper historical and conceptual foundation for practice. We will trace this evolutionary tree from Sigmund Freud and Anna Freud, Heinz Hartmann and the beginning of ego psychology, object relations (Spitz, Mahler) through the Sullivanians, Melanie Klein, the British object relational school with Fairbairn and Winnicott, Erickson and Kohut and their contributions to Identity and the Self, through to contemporary Freudian theorists i.e. Kernberg, Lacan, Schafer, Loewald and finally to the relational school of psychoanalytic thought. We will also discuss how the “humanistic” schools of psychotherapy fit into this history i.e. Rogerian, Jungian, Gestalt, Bio-Energetics etc, which although distinguished by their theories and techniques, are still historically grounded in psychoanalytic theory.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Johanna Barrett, LCSW
OBJECT RELATIONS, SELF PSYCHOLOGY AND GESTALT THERAPY, AN INTEGRATION
Gestalt therapy provides a comprehensive framework for object relations and self psychology psychoanalytic theories. We will review the different schools of object relations and self psychology theories, with an emphasis on how they can be utilized to broaden a Gestalt theoretical view of psychotherapy. Review of case material and use of experiential work in class will be used to enhance an understanding of object relations and self psychology from a Gestalt perspective. 10 hours, $300
Instructor: Evan Senrich, PhD, LCSW
CHARACTER STYLES I, ISSUES IN TREATMENT
Videotapes are reviewed to demonstrate issues that form the conceptual framework of Gestalt Therapy, how they are operationalized, and the integrative experience of the process.
10 hours per semester, included in base tuition
Instructor: Jim Mulry, LCSW, LP
CHARACTER STYLES II, PSYCHOPATHOLOGY I
This seminar consists of lectures discussing the contributions of different psychoanalytic and existential theories to develop an understanding of character.
10 hours per semester, included in base tuition
Instructor: Jim Mulry, LCSW, LP
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF PSYCHODIAGNOSIS
DIAGNOSIS AND THE BODY
An Historical Understanding of How We Diagnose and Work with the Body in Therapy: This course explores the contributions of Freud, Reich, Perls, Lowen and Pierrakos, and the profound insights they brought to the unspoken language of the body. We will focus on what our clients’ bodies (muscular armoring, body structure, posture, breath and movement) reveal to us and how this helps orient us in developing a diagnosis and treatment process. The course will be both didactic and experiential.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Neila Wyman, LCSW, LP
INTRODUCTION TO INTAKE ASSESSMENT, PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND DIAGNOSIS
This course provides an overview of the intake process and utilizes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as a guide for appropriate diagnosis. With the instructor’s supervision, participants conduct actual clinic intake interviews, and submit written case presentations.
15 hours, included in base tuition
Instructor: Susan Grossman, DSW, LCSW
FOUNDATIONS OF GESTALT THERAPY, ELEMENTS OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION AND PROCESS
This course explores the basic structures of interpersonal communication, with an emphasis on the role of how body and language cues, and intuitive information, may alter and/or enhance overt communication and reveal unaware messages and processes.
15 hours, included in base tuition
Instructor: Connie Newman,LCAT, LMHC, LP
SOCIO-CULTURAL INFLUENCE
THE DEVELOPMENT OF GENDER IDENTITY
In this course we will explore the multiple and intertwining cultural, biological, and psychological issues that contribute to the formation of a sense of a male or female gendered “self.” We will draw upon the works of such diverse theorists as Winnicott, Freud, Mitchell, Chodorow, Benjamin, and Gilligan, and analyze their contributions to an understanding of the role of gender in personality development.
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Arleen Maiorano, LCSW, LP
SOCIOCULTURAL ISSUES AND THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP
This course explores the many ways that issues of “culture” influence the frame of psychotherapy and the relationship between client and therapist. A historical and psychoanalytic context is provided to help define “Multiculturalism, Biculturalism and Interculturalism. Next, an analysis is provided by several Gestalt therapists. Emphasis is given to therapist and client field-related issues with regard to race and ethnicity. Finally, the course looks at social action as it relates to Gestalt therapy theory and to our role as Gestalt therapists.
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Patricia Tucker, LCSW, LP
CLINICAL PRACTICE WITH LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) CLIENTS
Utilizing a
psychoanalytic and Gestalt therapy framework, the interplay of social factors in the environment and issues of LGBT identity will be discussed in depth. Students will be presented with many of the cultural issues and struggles of this population, and the creative adjustments, defenses, and coping mechanisms frequently utilized by LGBT clients that clinicians need to understand when working with this population in a psychotherapy setting. Assessment and treatment issues will be discussed using both case material and the student’s own experiences with the LGBT population.
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Evan Senreich, PhD, LCSW
FAMILY AND COUPLES THERAPY FROM A SYSTEMS, GESTALT AND PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE
This course will address family issues, dynamics and treatment from a Gestalt Psychoanalytic perspective, interweaving ideas derived from Family Systems theory. We will look at the history of the development of Family Therapy, various schools of thought, emphasizing gestalt, psychoanalytic and systems thinking and modes of treatment. We will study tapes and use role play as well as supervision of actual cases to explore various treatment interventions based on solid theoretical formulations.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Susan Friedberg, LCSW, LP
PRACTICE TECHNIQUE
THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS
This course explores techniques, approaches, and interventions designed to engage and systematically develop a client’s presenting issues with the goal of revealing underlying emotional concepts.
15 hours, included in base tuition
Instructor: Susan Jurkowski, LCSW, LP
ONGOING PRACTICUM AND DEMONSTRATION
In practicum, rainees are provided with the opportunity to work as patient or therapist, under the moment-to-moment supervision of a faculty member. In Demonstration, trainees observe and discuss the application of Gestalt theory to Gestalt therapy practice, after a live therapy demonstration by a member of the faculty.
15+ hours per semester, included in base tuition
Instructors: Faculty
GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY PRACTICE
The group experience brings out dimensions in a person’s character that frequently escape detection in individual treatment, specifically characterological issues and problems in personal relating. One half of each session will be an ongoing group, and the other half will be devoted to theory and to analysis of the actual group process.
25 hours, $750 (elective)
Instructors: Susan Friedberg, LCSW, LP; Neila Wyman, LCSW, LP; Arleen Maiorano, LCSW, LP
RESISTANCE, TRANSFERENCE, & COUNTERTRANSFERENCE
RESISTANCE, TRANSFERENCE, COUNTERTRANSFERENCE, INTRODUCTION TO INTERSUBJECTIVITY
This course will focus on countertransference/transference and resistance issues, as seen from an intersubjective and existential perspective.
10 hours, included in base tuition
Instructor: Arleen Maiorano, LCSW, LP
AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF RESISTANCE, TRANSFERENCE, COUNTERTRANSFERENCE
In this course, we will explore how Freud’s concept of ‘transference’ began to focus the work of analysis closer to the phenomenology of the present moment, and the gradual development of this concept into that of a ‘transference/countertransference field.’ We will compare Stolorow’s idea of transference as ‘organization of experience’ to Goodman’s emphasis on ‘analyzing the internal structure of the actual experience’ as the fundamental work of Gestalt therapy. We will consider Rank’s idea of resistance as an expression of the patient’s will, and explore its influence on the Gestalt view of resistance.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Daniel Bloom, JD, LCSW
RESISTANCE, TRANSFERENCE, COUNTERTRANSFERENCE
Winnicott: This course will draw from concepts of transference/countertransference/resistance as presented in previous seminars and will focus on Winnicott’s models of infant emotional development and of therapeutic interaction. Our deeper appreciation of the subtleties and breadth of Winnicott’s (and related) concepts will open links to Gestalt theory and practice especially in terms of “the use of self.”
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Todd Senzon, MA, LP
RESISTANCE, TRANSFERENCE, COUNTERTRANSFERENCE, EXISTENTIAL ISSUES
This course will examine transference/countertransference/resistance in its historical context as it emerged from an intrapsychic individualist model and developed into a model focusing on the emerging structure of the situation. We will analyze the influence of phenomenology, gestalt psychology, and existentialism, as they relate to the innovations of Gestalt therapy. Clinical material will be presented to exemplify contemporary Gestalt therapy’s use of transference/counter-transference as a functioning of the contact-boundary in a psychotherapeutic meeting.
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Daniel Bloom, JD, LCSW
CASE SEMINARS
CASE SEMINAR, SINGLE CASE
Each candidate is required to present a case formulation in Gestalt terms, utilizing a client that has been seen in his/her ongoing supervised caseload for at least one year. A comprehensive research paper summarizing this presentation will be submitted and discussed with other seminar participants.
10 hours, included in base tuition
Instructors: Susan Jurkowski, LCSW, LP & Richard Shrobe, LCSW, LP
CASE SEMINAR, CASE STUDIES THROUGH THE LIFE CYCLE OF TREATMENT
In this course, students read examples and then present their own cases surrounding the following topics: Beginnings: Introductions and Engagement; Middle Phase: Core Issues and Major Theme Development; Transference and Countertransference; and Endings: Termination Issues in Treatment.
10 hours, $300
Instructors: Patricia Tucker, LCSW, LP and Connie Newman, LCAT, LMHC, LP
CASE SEMINAR, DREAMWORK
In this course, we will focus on the clinical use of dreams, noticing their structure and timing in the therapeutic process, and how they arise from and impact the therapy and the treatment relationship. We will use case examples to demonstrate how images from dreams and dreamwork can be utilized as an ongoing homework practice to help patients alter habitual patterns of interrupting contact. Each participant will contribute case examples for discussion, and will prepare a paper and presentation.
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Susan Jurkowski, LCSW, LP
CASE SEMINAR, PRESENTNESS AND PRESENCE
Gestalt therapy has always emphasized the experience of the present moment. This focus has served to heighten our awareness of the immediacy of living our lives, and of contact with what is. Presence is the basis for all forms of presentness. This seminar will include didactic and experiential explorations of both presentness and presence, and will address clinical applications and implications of this expansion of the Gestalt approach.
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Alan Cohen, LCSW, LP
CASE SEMINAR, THE PERSON-IN-RELATION
This seminar will examine the individual cases of participants, focusing on the patient’s relationships. We will look at the patient’s early development and explore its impact of on the dynamics of the patient’s adult relationships. We will look at the patient’s attempts to repair early fragmentations or to “close” unfinished gestalts, focusing on their choice of relationships and patterns of interacting within their relationships. Each seminar participant will present a written case summary, exploring the specific dynamics of one or more primary relationships.
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Arleen Maiorano, LCSW, LP
ETHICS AND RESEARCH
INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH STATISTICS
Students will master the basics of research and statistics, will be able to review and critique psychological, psychoanalytic and social research articles, including research design, analysis of samples, and understanding of qualitative and quantitative data.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Lina Jandorf, MA, LMHC
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN ANALYTIC PRACTICE
Intrinsic to ethical practice is the therapist’s respect both for the patient and for the complex and profound relationship, the “space between,” that is co-created by the patient/therapist meeting. We will discuss the philosophical, legal, and professional foundations that come together to form the core of current ethical practice.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Arleen Maiorano, LCSW, LP
PSYCHOANALYTIC RESEARCH, THE CASE STUDY IN CONTEXT
Through class discussion of course reading assignments and project preparation students will achieve a comprehensive understanding of the contextual field in which the case study prevails as the research model utilized by psychotherapists across a range of theoretical approaches.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Todd Senzon, MA, LP
PRACTICE IN PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
UNDERSTANDING AND WORKING WITH PERSONALITY DISORDERS
This seminar will focus on the difficult treatment issues presented by Personality Disorders. The seminar will include: an overview of the different theories and ways of looking at Personality Disorders; their characteristics and diagnosis; and different principles of intervention, with an accent on the Gestalt approach to treatment. Participants are invited to present cases from their practice in this seminar.
10 hours, $300
Instructor: Jim Mulry, LCSW, LP
DREAMING, DREAM ANALYSIS, & DREAMWORK
This course will review historical ways of thinking about and approaching dreams and theories of the psychology and physiology of the dreaming process. We will learn about Freudian, Jungian, and Gestalt approaches to dream analysis, interpretation and dreamwork, with a focus on exploring their similar goals of uncovering and understanding unconscious processes. We will especially attend to the differences between interpretive and experiential ways of working with dreams, utilizing case material and working with students’ dreams during the practicum hours.
15 hours, $450
Instructor: Susan Jurkowski, LCSW, LP
ISSUES IN TREATMENT I
Videotapes are reviewed to demonstrate issues that form the conceptual framework of Gestalt Therapy, how they are operationalized, and the integrative experience of the process.
10 hours per semester, included in base tuition
Instructors: Alan Cohen, LCSW, LP & Johanna Barrett, LCSW
ISSUES IN TREATMENT II, ADVANCED SEMINAR IN GESTALT APPROACH TO PSYCHOTHERAPY
Using video tapes, lectures, and a study-group structure, this seminar offers a comprehensive overview of the major basic issues in Gestalt Therapy, such as field theory, the different levels of the personality, the definition and integration of polarities, and the etiology and function of defenses.
10 hours per semester, included in base tuition
Instructors: Alan Cohen, LCSW, LP & Johanna Barrett, LCSW