Palo Alto Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program (PAPPTP)

PAPPTP OVERVIEW

The Palo Alto Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program (PAPPTP) was established in 2007 to offer high quality psychoanalytic psychotherapy training for therapists in the Peninsula/South Bay region and to bring together psychodynamically-oriented clinicians in a collegial educational community. We support individuals who desire greater understanding of psychoanalytic thinking and methods to increase their clinical capabilities and derive more satisfaction from their work.

Our three programs are intended for mental health professionals seeking to develop as psychoanalytic/psychodynamic psychotherapists, both early-career as well as mid-career clinicians looking to deepen their understanding and enrich their clinical work.

PAPPTP Programs:

The Two-Year Program is a two-year training program for licensed clinicians practicing outpatient psychotherapy. This in-depth program integrates didactic learning with clinical consultation on cases from the student’s own practice. For our tenth cohort, which begins September 2025, we will be accepting applications from January 15 through June 30, 2025.

The Fellowship Year is an introductory year for trainees and licensed mental health professionals who wish to gain exposure to psychoanalytic clinical work. The next Fellowship Year will begin Fall of 2026.

The Post-Seminar Case Conference is for those who have completed the two years of seminars of the Two-Year Program or have equivalent experience. For the 2025-2026 Post-Seminar Case Conference we will be accepting registrations from January 15 through June 30, 2025.

PAPPTP students in the Two-Year Program and the Post-Seminar Case Conference are automatically enrolled as Community Members of SFCP, which allows them access to SFCP’s wide range of educational offerings and the opportunity to meet other psychoanalytically-oriented clinicians in the SFCP community.

SFCP is committed to diversity within its membership and its programs. We believe that, too often, non-dominant groups and perspectives have been marginalized within psychoanalysis, and we are working to increase attention to these issues – both conceptually and in practice – to enrich our individual work, our programs, and the field of psychoanalysis as a whole.

Upcoming Events

Wednesdays, October 15, 2025 to May 27, 2026
Extension Education Programs
2025-2026 Seasoned Clinicians Program
 Jeffrey Sandler, MD; Clara Kwun, LCSW; Mark Swoiskin, MD; Jeanne Harasemovitch, LCSW; Michael Wagner, PhD, MFT; Joanna Wise-Bradman, LCSW, Dorian Newton, PhD; and Catherine Mallouh (leaders)
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Transformation, Creativity, and the Aesthetic Experience
Notions of Creativity in the Clinical Setting: Case Discussions from Jungian and Contemporary Object Relations Perspectives
Jan Ole Luuk, LLM (presenter); Robert Grossmark, PhD, ABPP; and Paul Watsky, PhD, ABPP (discussants)
Saturday, October 25, 2025
Child Colloquium Series
Learning to Surf: Analyzing Adolescents
Mary Brady, PhD (presenter); Jill Sallberg, PhD, ABPP (discussant)
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Scientific Meetings
LEADERSHIP IN THE PSYCHOANALYTIC MOVEMENT
Harriet Wolfe, MD (presenter); Brett Penfil, LMFT, MPH (interviewer)
Sunday, November 2, 2025
Committee on Groups
Deepen the Dialogues: Conversations Across Difference
The Committee on Groups
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Child Colloquium Series
The Play of Eros: The Story of an Adolescent Boy, his Body and his Analyst’s Body
Bruce Reis, PhD, FIPA, BCPsa (presenter); Terrence Owens, PhD (discussant)
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Psychoanalytic Education Division
Psychoanalytic Training Informational Evening
Please join SFCP Faculty and Candidates for Dinner, Drinks, and a Discussion of Psychoanalytic Training at SFCP.
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Transformation, Creativity, and the Aesthetic Experience
Transformation, Creativity, and the Aesthetic Experience: Comparative Psychoanalytic Perspectives within the Jungian and Contemporary Object Relations Traditions
John Beebe, PhD, ABPP; Diane Elise, PhD; Henry Markman, MD; and Paul Watsky, PhD, ABPP (presenters and panelists)
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Dialogues in Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Event title to be announced
Donald Moss, MD (presenter)
Wednesdays, January 7 to 28, 2026
Psychoanalytic Student Seminars
Becoming a Couple: An Introduction to Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy
Dana Iscoff, MFT (instructor)
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