Organizational Structure of the Society

The Society is a membership organization comprised of psychoanalysts, candidates (psychoanalysts-in-training), and individuals interested in the application of psychoanalytic ideas to other fields (e.g. mental health, medical, scientific, educational, and cultural). The Society sponsors workshops, seminars, and scientific meetings where members or invited guests present original papers on the theory and practice of psychoanalysis to psychoanalytic colleagues and other mental health professionals. In an effort to build community and support the diversity of psychoanalytic thought, the Society co-sponsors an Inter-Institute clinical symposium comprised of candidate and psychoanalyst members of the three Seattle area psychoanalytic training institutes. The Society also organizes international forums, such as the Evolving British Object Relations (EBOR) conference, to promote cross-cultural discussion and debate vital to the continued development of psychoanalysis as an important form of treatment and approach to understanding human mental life.

The NPS Institute is the training site for mental health professionals interested in psychoanalytic education from a British Object Relations perspective. The Institute offers training for those seeking to become International Psychoanalytical Association certified psychoanalysts. Training to become a psychoanalyst involves four years of coursework or didactic training, and several more years to complete all of the requirements for graduation, including supervised psychoanalytic clinical work (control cases), a graduation paper demonstrating theoretical and clinical mastery, and personal analysis. The Institute also provides courses for psychotherapists who want to deepen their theoretical understanding and clinical skill without committing to full psychoanalytic training.

To see a map of the organizational structure of NPS, please click on the image to the left.