Becoming a School: Developing Learning Objectives for Psychoanalytic Education

Data collected from multiple psychoanalytic institutes in the United States. indicate that the lack of clear guidelines for progression and graduation compromises psychoanalytic training in many ways (Cabaniss, Glick, and Roose, 2000). Educational research suggests that learning objectives and clear assessment tools can help to demystify education, guide curriculum development, clarify standards for the field, and prompt research (Gardner, 1995, 1999; Wiggins and McTighe, 1998; Wiske, 1998). This article outlines the process by which the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research undertook to operationalize objectives for learning in clinical psychoanalysis and to develop and use a standardized supervisory assessment tool. It further outlines the multicenter project on supervisory assessment that has evolved from this effort that now involves 4 psychoanalytic institutes in North America.