In December 2010, the Committee on Institutes of the American Psychoanalytic Association conducted a routine site visit of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. We are writing this brief communication, not to respond to that site visit, but rather to engage our psychoanalytic community in a discussion of some critical issues raised during the wrap-up session and by the written report; equally important, these issues have been debated for years by our own faculty. This brief communication represents the opinions of the authors. We do not speak for the faculty or administration of the Center, and many on the faculty at Columbia may disagree with our views and