The Teaching and Learning of the Selection Process: One Aspect of Faculty Development

The future of psychoanalysis is intimately tied to the caliber of candidates accepted for training, and therefore selection is considered by most psychoanalytic educators to be one of the important core functions necessary for the successful operation of an institute's educational program. In spite of the importance attached to selection, it is somewhat surprising that the formal teaching and learning of the selection process is often neglected by psychoanalytic faculties. It seems to be assumed that a graduate analyst who has gained clinical competence can carry out the complex task required of psychoanalytic educators without further learning. For example, it seems to be assumed that the analytic clinician has learned and mastered the assessment of pathology, ego structure, analyzability, and the potential for doing analytic work.

In fact, the selection interviewer has to be able to do even more than this. First, the selection interviewer has to have in mind the criteria demonstrating aptitude for becoming an analyst. Having assessed aptitude, the selection interviewer can predict whether the applicant will or will not successfully complete the educational program and become a competent analyst. Other selection tasks involve knowing how to conduct a good selection