Dr. Lawrence Chalfin's report on external credentialing (31/1) includes two factual errors about the Division of Psychoanalysis (39) of the American Psychological Association and its members.
Chalfin states that “for The American, a defined and rigorous psychoanalytic education built upon prior professional education and training is a necessary requirement for designation as a psychoanalyst. For other consortium organizations, e.g., Division 39, a doctoral education alone suffices, not graduation from a psychoanalytic institute.”
This statement is incorrect. Division 39 is an organization of primarily doctoral-level psychologists who are members of the American Psychological Association and who have an interest in psychoanalysis as theory, practice, and research. Although not designated as such, members of Division 39 fall into two broad categories. A psychologist psychoanalyst is a member who has graduated from a training institute or has functionally equivalent experience. Functional equivalency to institute training has long been considered an equitable consideration for those psychologists who were, or would have been, denied admission to candidacy in institutes of The American (prior to its policy changes). These psychologist psychoanalysts also did not have access to other training institutes in their own locations and they secured “bootleg” training. The often studied with, were supervised by, and were analyzed by members of The American. A psychoanalytic psychologist is a member who has an interest in psychoanalysis and may or may not be a candidate in an institute. Because it is an interest group and not a credentialing body, membership in Division 39 in no way designates any of its members as psychoanalysts.
Chalfin's second error is similarly serious. He states that “members of Division 39 are eligible to be ‘diplomated’ in psychoanalysis by entering an examination process that does not presuppose graduation from a psychoanalytic institute or specific standards of frequency.” The American Board of Psychoanalysis in Psychology (ABPsaP) indeed does require graduation from an institute or functional equivalency. Frequency of personal and supervised analyses were difficult issues in establishing the ABPsaP's diplomate standards. Compromises in these early stages of the diplomating process have been necessary because many psychologists secured “bootleg” training or training at institutes where standards of frequency have been variable. Further, the institutes throughout the country that have been launched by local chapters of Division 39 offer rigorous training with curriculums, standards of frequency of personal analysis, and supervised analyses that compare favorably to the standards of The American.
I hope that my correction of these errors and clarification of some of the problems that psychologist psychoanalysts have faced, and are attempting to manage, will foster good faith and a spirit of collaboration that are necessary to advance the discipline of psychoanalysis in these difficult times.
Antonio R. Virsida, Ph.D.
President-Elect , Section I Psychologist Psychoanalyst Practitioners APA, Division of Psychoanalysis