Masters in Psychotherapy (Psychoanalytic)
This part-time 2 year programme provides a critical and theoretical understanding of the principles underlying psychoanalytic psychotherapy and contributes to the professional training necessary to undertake this therapeutic method with adults. As a clinical practice, psychoanalytic psychotherapy derives from psychoanalysis, a discipline which is based on the pioneering work of Sigmund Freud. In addition to Freud, since its inception in 1984, the course content has been strongly marked by the work of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1901 – 1980) and his re-reading of Freud’s work, making it the only course of its kind in Ireland with this distinctive theoretical underpinning.
By way of background, psychoanalysis is a field of study informed by a therapeutic method which privileges the unconscious processes of the mind. This focus on unconscious processes and the laws governing them remains central to the clinical practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. In addition to its clinical focus, psychoanalysis has an undisputed place in contemporary culture with many of its concepts informing diverse fields of academic and artistic enquiry ranging from law, sociology, anthropology, psychology and psychiatry to philosophy, literary criticism, the arts, women’s studies and queer studies. The link between clinical relevance and contemporary cultural concerns is given emphasis in this programme.
- Programme Description
Programme Description
This clinical programme provides an initial two years of training towards becoming a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. Thereafter, graduates are eligible to apply for full membership of The Association for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in Ireland (APPI), where they can continue their training and work towards Registered Practitioner status within APPI. APPI is a recognised professional body for psychotherapy training in Ireland whose accreditation criteria include completion of approximately 40 supervisory sessions yearly for a minimum of 3 years, 80 sessions yearly of personal therapy for a minimum of 3 years followed by a formal presentation of ongoing clinical or research work to a panel of fellow practitioners.
Graduates are also well placed to have this programme recognised as contributing to the accreditation requirements of other psychotherapy training bodies in Ireland, such as IACP, The Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the psychoanalytic bodies within ICP, The Irish Council for Psychotherapy.
Programme Duration and StructureIt is a two year part-time course which is offered in years of even number. Attendance is on Wednesday afternoon/evening (2.00 – 7.45pm) and Thursday morning (9.15 - 13.00) over 4 semesters ie 2+2 semesters with a summer break. The weekly contact hours are divided between formal teaching, including seminars (7½ hours), ‘small group’ supervision (1½ hours) and attendance at the weekly psychiatric case conference (1 hour). Participants are expected to have - at a minimum - one further day available for work related to the programme which comprises personal therapy, seeing one’s own patients psychotherapeutically, attending individual supervision and preparing and researching all course work.
All teaching is carried out in the Centre for Psychotherapy within the Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Mental Health Research at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, with the weekly psychiatric case conference taking place in the Main Lecture Theatre in the Education and Research Centre also at St Vincent’s University Hospital.
- Entry Requirements
Candidates must have some prior knowledge of psychoanalytic principles. Generally, this is acquired academically or through one’s own personal analysis, professional clinical experience and/or other learning. Specifically, to be accepted onto the course, candidates must ordinarily have (a) a good honours degree in a discipline related to psychotherapy, psychoanalysis or its equivalent. They must also (b) be engaged in their own personal analysis and (c) be working with patients under supervision either in private practice or an institution. Both (b) and (c) are core requirements and must be maintained for the duration of the course. The Course Director can advise on how to realise these requirements prior to application.
All applicants must apply on-line at www.ucd.ie/apply Shortlisted applicants will have 2 separate interviews.
- Programme Content
The course is delivered in 11 modules:
- Eight of these – 4 modules in year one and 4 in year two - provide 5 credits each.
- Of the remaining 3 modules, 2 are specifically related to clinical training and assessment and run continuously throughout the two years. These are Supervision of Clinical Practice and Clinical Diagnostics and Research, each contributing 15 credits. The final module is by dissertation and contributes 30 credits.
- Attendance must be 80% or higher throughout the course.
Assessment is by continuous assessment for the taught modules and a mark for the thesis
Total credits awarded: 100 ECTSMODULE 1
TITLE: Supervision of Clinical Practice.
CREDITS: 7.5 ECTS in year 1 and 7.5 ECTS in Year 2
The supervision of clinical practice takes place in small groups with an assigned clinical tutor in order to offer students an intimate environment and a highly focused training in the technique and practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Practical questions, such as how to commence work as a psychotherapist, how to maintain a correct position vis à vis the patient, the early sessions, the place of interpretation, the role of the transference, etc. are all looked at in detail. Central Freudian texts on technique and metapsychology are used as a basis for the discussion of ongoing clinical formation, with students presenting their active case material in rotation for peer and tutor supervision.
ASSESSMENT: Reflective Journal
3000 word essay at the end of each semester (4 in total).
Assessment of Clinical CompetenceModule 2
TITLE: Clinical Diagnostics and Research
CREDITS: 7.5 ECTS in year 1 and 7.5 ECTS in Year 2
Students will attend the weekly psychiatric case conference where the attending psychiatrist conducts an interview with a patient in the presence of the multi-disciplinary group of mental health professionals. The interview itself, the related differential diagnosis, including the psychodynamic/psychoanalytic opinion and the treatment plan will inform a seminar immediately following the case conference. In addition to the refined psychoanalytic opinion formulated in the course of this seminar, questions of diagnosis and technique will be further developed in conjunction with the study of Lacan’s essay on psychoanalytic technique The Direction of the Treatment and the Principles of its Power.
ASSESSMENT: Weekly case conference reports
Individual ‘in-class’presentationMODULE 3
TITLE: Psychoanalysis in Context
CREDITS: 5 ECTS in Year 1/Semester 1
Psychoanalysis as a phenomenon of modern times ie the past 100 years or so, will be placed within the context of the history of thought as informed by three indicators 1) The evolution of philosophical thought from Descartes and the birth of modern science to the present day 2) the history of madness and its attendant sociological context 3) the development of the family and the emergence of the conjugal family as its most recent form. This broad-ranging module will address how psychoanalysis emerged relative to the above indicators and attempt to extract from them the causative factors for the neuroses of our time.
ASSESSMENT: Graded group assessment based on small group presentations.MODULE 4
TITLE: The Symptom and the Dream
CREDITS: 5 ECTS in Year 1/Semester 1
In psychoanalytic theory, the dream and the symptom are the indicators of the existence and activity of what Freud named the unconscious. They are the privileged modalities for exploring this activity. This module offers an examination of these modalities by which the unconscious expresses itself, through a sustained exposure to and examination of the grammar and syntax specific to primary process thinking. Two of Feud's seminal texts, The Interpretation of Dreams and The Rat Man case history are used as essential references and are linked to clinical practice via the work of Jacques Lacan and others.
ASSESSMENT: Seen examinationMODULE 5
TITLE: Child Psychoanalysis: Theory and Application
CREDITS: 5 ECTS in Year 1/Semester 2
Three theoretical approaches will be studied in relation to the psychoanalysis of children. Freud’s contribution - as outlined in the seminal account of his treatment of phobia in a young boy Little Hans - will be examined in the contemporary light of the process of mythification at the heart of psychoanalytic cure. The pioneering work of two major theoreticians of the British School, Klein and Winnicott, will also be evaluated. Kleinian concepts to be studied include: the paranoid/schizoid and depressive positions; projective/introjective identification; unconscious phantasy and object relations, as will the principles of her play technique with children. Winnicott’s theoretical contribution will also be examined.
ASSESSMENT: 2 x 2,500 word essays.MODULE 6
TITLE: Psychoanalysis and Language
CREDITS: 5 ECTS in Year 1/Semester 2
In psychoanalysis, how does cure through the mere act of talking come about? This module will demonstrate that the unconscious is structured like a language, thereby defining our relationship to reality. Specifically students will learn how the algorithm of the unconscious S/s (Signifier/signified) functions and its application in psychoanalytic practice. Links between this concept S/s and two of Lacan’s models for how the subject is ‘inserted’ into language and culture ie the Graph of Desire and Schema R will be developed. The origin of the laws of language in the work of Freud, Ferdinand de Saussure and Claude Levi-Strauss will also be privileged.
ASSESSMENT: Short written assessments x 2
3000 word essayMODULE 7
TITLE: Human Sexuality and the Logic of Sexuation
CREDITS: 5 ECTS in Year 2/Semester 1
Irrespective of our ‘natural’ gendered state, how, as men and women, we take up a ‘sexed’ position is at the core of our question of what it is to be human. This question has implications for the disorders of our time, ranging from sexual abuse, suicide among young men, the addictions, women as hommes manqués, etc. The contemporary reading of Jacques Lacan’s formulae of sexuation versus traditional dualistic definitions of men and women will be examined. Freud’s related teaching on infantile sexuality, sexual difference and the psychoanalytic controversies engendered by it (Ernest Jones’ contribution etc) will be assessed. The topic of perversion, particularly its epistemology will also be examined.
ASSESSMENT: Graded group assessment based on small group presentationsMODULE 8
TITLE: Transference and the Interpretation of Desire in Literature and Art
CREDITS: 5 ECTS in Year 2/Semester 1
In this module, two conceptual strands converge to illuminate the formal structure of the phantasy, 1) the concept of transference as discovered and illustrated by Freud in the account of his treatment of Dora, an 18 year old hysteric and elaborated on by Jacques Lacan in his commentary - Intervention on Transference and 2) the dialectic of desire as developed by Lacan in his seminars on key literary and artistic works: Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Velasquez’ Las Meninas in particular. This intersection between psychoanalysis, literature and art further echoes Freud’s frequent direction to analysts to study the arts and literature to better train their minds about the nature of the unconscious.
ASSESSMENT: Seen examinationMODULE 9
TITLE: Psychoanalytic Conceptions of Psychosis
CREDITS: 5 ECTS in Year 2/Semester 2
This module concentrates on two of Freud’s case studies – his analysis of 1) Judge Schreber’s autobiography of his psychotic illness and 2) his treatment of the Russian émigré eponymously referred to as the Wolf Man - as reference points for a psychoanalytic understanding of psychosis. In addition, it studies Freud’s and Lacan’s theories of psychotic illness, especially, paranoia and schizophrenia (formerly dementia praecox), as they evolved and as they relate to the theories of their psychiatrist contemporaries. Attention will also be paid to questions of diagnosis and treatment of psychosis in psychoanalysis and psychiatry today.
ASSESSMENT: ‘In-class’ written assessment 2,500 word essay.MODULE 10
TITLE: Ethics, Research and Clinical Applications
CREDITS: 5 ECTS in Year 2/Semester 2
There is a tension between `evidence-based' scientific method and psychoanalysis, wherein the `refusal' to measure the discourse effect produced in analytic work in an ‘evidence-based’ way, is ethically informed. The contemporary debate surrounding this tension will be examined with a view to formulating the nature of a scientific method that takes cognisance of the laws of the unconscious. The contribution of psychoanalytic theory and practice in three `cinderella' domains will also be addressed by professionals working psychoanalytically therein: addiction, where the role of the administration of `jouissance' in diagnosis and treatment will be explored; criminality, where the implications of an understanding of Freud's concept of criminals being criminals from a sense of unconscious guilt will be assessed and queer theory, where Lacan's concepts of desire and language offer a critique of the subject in modern culture.
ASSESSMENT: 2 x 2500 word essays.MODULE 11
TITLE: Dissertation
CREDITS: 10 ECTS in Year 1/20 ECTS in Year 2
Students will prepare and submit a 12,000 – 15,000 word thesis at the end of the second academic year. By the end of first year, they will be expected to have submitted a thesis proposal, completed the first chapter and a literature search. Direction in formulating their proposal and progressing their written work will be monitored and supported by their clinical tutor - who will also act as thesis supervisor. This work will take place in designated seminars interspersed over the two years of the clinical practice tutorial. The student’s individual clinical tutor can also provide supervision for the thesis.
ASSESSMENT: individual mark for the thesis and viva voce examinationEXAMINATIONS:
The MSc will be awarded following attendance at teaching sessions, the case conferences, group and individual supervision of clinical work and successful completion of all related course work.There will be no end-of-year examinations.
Course work includes essays, assignments, group and individual ‘in-class’ assessments, weekly case conference reports and a research thesis of 12,000 – 15,000 words.
An attendance rate of 80% is expected throughout the course.
To attain the MSc, participants must-pass the Supervision of Clinical Practice and Clinical Diagnostics and Research modules. The rationale for the clinical assessment components being designated as ‘must-pass’ is due to the fact that these clinical components are absolutely essential for a student to qualify in this area.
- Application Procedure and further contact details
Application for this course must be made on-line at www.ucd.ie/apply
For all informal enquiries, please contact the Course Director or the Course Administrator:
Course Director:
Dr Patricia McCarthy
Centre for Psychotherapy
School of Medicine and Medical Science
St Camillus, Lower Ground Floor
St Vincent’s University Hospital
Elm Park
Dublin 4
Email: patricia.mccarthy@ucd.ie
Telephone no: 00353 1 2213396Course Administrator:
Fiona O’Brien Lavin
Centre for Psychotherapy
f.obrien@st-vincents.ie
Telephone no: 00353 1 2094868- Career Opportunities
In its 25 year history, the programme has produced over 180 graduates. It caters largely for mental health professionals, which include doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, therapists, counsellors and nurses. In the past 10 years its remit has been broadened to also accommodate a range of individuals from other professional backgrounds. These range from the arts and academia, through to teaching, pastoral care, business, journalism, and the law. This eclectic mix of candidates is a unique feature of the course and reflects the programme’s philosophy and content.
What have past graduates done?
The majority of graduates, whether working in the mental health arena or other professions continue to work in their primary professions using psychoanalytic principles to inform their work. Many in this category set up their own private practice as psychoanalytic psychotherapists, while remaining in personal therapy and supervision over many years. A few become psychoanalysts who likewise work in private practice, remain in personal analysis and additionally make a contribution to teaching, training and research in the field. A minority pursue doctoral studies. This number is likely to increase with the introduction of a professional doctorate programme.
Over the years, graduates have forged unique ties with psychoanalytic colleagues in France, Belgium and South America where the inculturation of psychoanalysis is more advanced than in Ireland. In addition to an annual national conference, graduates have hosted several international congresses including the 1st Congress of the European Foundation for Psychoanalysis (1992), The Joyce-Lacan Symposium - The Joy(ce) of Language, Dublin Castle (2005) and Psychosis and Psychoanalysis SVUH 2008. Graduates have published The Letter- Irish Journal for Lacanian Psychoanalysis since 1994, have set up postgraduate programmes in other 3rd level institutions in the capital, have formed a representative professional body catering for the accreditation of psychoanalytic psychotherapists The Association for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in Ireland and a school for the formation of psychoanalysts, Irish School for Lacanian Psychoanalysis which is modeled on Lacan’s École Freudienne de Paris.
- Fee Information
Academic Year 2009-2010
Part Time
EU Students:
€7,500
Non EU Students:
€15,000
News and informationApplications are currently being considered subject to availability.
UCD Psychotherapy ProgrammesHigher & Graduate Diplomas
Masters
UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Tel : 353-1-7167777 - Fee Information
- Career Opportunities
- Application Procedure and further contact details
- Programme Content
- Entry Requirements