Admission | Center for Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies

Admission to CAPS

Requirements for Consideration

BECOMING A CAPS MEMBER

CAPS welcomes applicants with broad clinical experience, with ability to speak in depth to colleagues about challenging cases including their own, and with an ability to work collegially with other analysts whose technical approaches, theoretical perspectives, and clinical goals may be different from their own. We seek applicants who will not only meaningfully participate in CAPS but who can also carry forward the CAPS spirit of collegiality and continued learning.

Colleagues who apply should demonstrate a history of participating in analytic activities beyond graduation and beyond their ‘home’ institutes and, in so doing, demonstrate qualities of professional leadership, such as those manifested by certification, by publications, and by presentations at national and international psychoanalytic meetings.

All interested applicants must meet the following requirements for consideration of membership to CAPS:

Be at least 5 years post graduation from an institute recognized by APsA and/or IPA
Hold an advanced degree in the mental health field: DMH, Ph.D., M.D., MSW or to be an academic analytic scholar
Have no current ethics complaints or lawsuits related to professional duties against one
Have demonstrated an active involvement in clinical work, writing, or committee work
Have submitted an updated CV
Have submitted a letter of interest that includes a description of analytic practice and involvement in local Institute(s)
Have submitted two (2) letters of recommendation, preferably from CAPS members
Have submitted a completed Immersion Form - (click to download). Please list all the analytic patients you have had in the past 5 years. We would hope that you would have seen 3 analytic patients during 3 of the 5 years.
Hold certification in psychoanalysis from ABPsa
A waiver from the certification requirement may be granted provided you have demonstrated sufficient immersion in the practice of psychoanalysis, an interest in continued learning and a willingness to present one’s work to peers that you do not know and who are not members of your own institute.

All application documents should be sent in PDF format to Administration at admin@caps-analysis.org. You will be notified when materials have been received.

Note: Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend our biennial summer conference to which Certification is not required to attend

Application Review & Placement Procedure

Application Review

The CAPS Board of Trustees accepts membership applications throughout the year and holds periodic meetings to review them. Upon receiving a completed application, we will confirm its receipt and inform you of the Board's scheduled review date. Applications will be evaluated based on the order of submission. If the number of applications surpasses the Board's review capacity for a single meeting, an additional session will be arranged promptly. Those affected will be notified of this delay. Applications remaining incomplete after a year will be withdrawn from consideration, necessitating the colleague to initiate a new application.

In instances where the Board votes to decline admission, the applicant will receive written notification within 15 days of the decision.

Group Placement

There are two methods through which a colleague accepted by the Board can be assigned to one of the 14 CAPS groups. The first is at the Director's discretion. In cases where the Director doesn't make an assignment, the applicant's materials are distributed to all groups with available space. (By submitting an application, applicants agree to share their CV and other materials with one or more groups.)

As the CAPS group meetings are spread over several weeks in the spring and fall, consideration of all available applicants by the groups with room takes time. If a group, in consultation with Director, invites a colleague to join, a letter of acceptance will be sent with appropriate information about future meetings. In the event that more than one group invites the same colleague, the Director will
select the group placement, taking into account the demographics (gender, age, geography, and diversity) of the requesting groups.

If, unfortunately, no invitation is issued to an applicant by any group, that applicant’s information will be circulated again during the next set of meetings. If colleagues remain unplaced after this second circulation, they will be notified by the Board and asked to consider applying again after 3 years.