Palo Alto Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program (PAPPTP)

HOW TO APPLY

Beginning January 15, 2025, PAPPTP will  accept applications for our tenth Two-Year Program class, which will begin in September 2025. Applications will be accepted 1/15/25 through 6/30/25 and will be considered in the order received. Class size is limited to 10 students, and in recent years there have been more applicants than available positions. We strongly recommend that you submit your application as early as possible to ensure a place in the program.

Application Requirements for the Two-Year Program:

  • Two letters of recommendation from two or more individuals familiar with you as a trainee or professional. If possible, the letters should comment on your clinical work and your participation in learning groups or other group settings. A minimum of two letters of reference is required; however applicants are welcome to submit more letters. Letters should be emailed to Tina Phu, the SFCP Education Program Coordinator, at tina.phu@sfcp.org. 
  • Also, please forward a copy of your professional license to Tina Phu at tina.phu@sfcp.org.
  • A personal statement in which you tell us about yourself in any way that you think would be helpful, including your reasons for, and what you hope to achieve in undertaking a training program in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. (Please offer a substantial response of roughly 2 single-spaced pages.)
  • A personal interview. Once we have received your completed application, we will contact you to schedule an interview. The interview is intended to be a warm, enjoyable, and informative discussion in which we begin to get to know you and you get to know about us. For example, we would like to learn more about your interest in PAPPTP, what you are hoping to get out of the program, how it fits into your plans for your career and professional development, and particular areas of knowledge or clinical capabilities you would like to further develop.

Upcoming Events

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)
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Coalition for Clinical Social Work
Coalition for Clinical Social Work Clinical Evening Series: Psychoanalysis Under Attack: Practicing Psychoanalytically-Informed Work in Beleaguered Communities Abroad
Silvia Rivera, PhD (presenter); Dania Dandashli, MA, LPC-S (discussant)
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Dialogues in Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Malignant Nostalgia: the impulse to eradicate "the bitter experience of life.”
Donald Moss, MD (presenter) in Conversation with Mitchell Wilson, MD
Wednesdays, January 7 to 28, 2026
Psychoanalytic Student Seminars
Becoming a Couple: An Introduction to Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy
Dana Iscoff, MFT (instructor)
Thursdays, January 8 to February 12, 2026
Coalition for Clinical Social Work
CCSW mini-Module: THERAPEUTIC RELATEDNESS
Sandra Gaspar, LMFT (instructor)
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Scientific Meetings
PSYCHEDELIC PSYCHOANALYSIS: TRANSFORMATION OF THE SELF
Megan Rundel, PhD (presenter); Ilene Philipson, PhD, PhD (moderator)
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