SFCP Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program

Applying for Psychoanalytic Training

The Admissions Committee strives to make applying for admission to psychoanalytic training as straightforward as possible.  If admissions procedures are unclear at any point, please email our Education Program Coordinator Tina Phu (tina.phu@sfcp.org). If you have more substantive questions about any aspect of the admissions process, please feel free to contact one of our Admissions Co-Chairs, Maureen Ruffell, MD (meruffellmd@alumni.tufts.edu) or Dena Sorbo, LCSW (dena.sorbo@gmail.com). Finally, if you would like help at any point during the process of applying, feel free to contact Adam Goldyne MD, Chair of Outreach (adamgoldynemd@gmail.com), who is impartial to and stands apart from Admissions Committee evaluations.

Application Form

Please visit the SFCP Application Portal to begin your application.

Application Timeline

When applying, please keep in mind the following considerations regarding timing:

1. Applications for Fall 2026 are being accepted now.
2. Applicants wishing to begin training in Fall of 2026 must be in a personal psychoanalysis with an SFCP-approved Training Analyst – meeting at a frequency of three or more times per week – by May 1, 2026 (see section on Personal Psychoanalysis for details).
3. Up to 9 candidates may begin psychoanalytic training in Fall 2026.
4. The Admissions Committee reviews applications in the order they are received, and makes offers of admissions on a rolling basis.
5. Because of the rolling nature of admissions, those interested in beginning training in Fall 2026 should consider applying as soon as possible. Applications received after April 1 may not be reviewed until September 2026, for matriculation in Fall 2027.
6. The Admissions Committee will continue to accept and consider applications, even after all positions in the Fall 2026 class have been filled.  Applications accepted at this point will be: 
   • placed on the waiting list for Fall 2026 matriculation in case those already accepted elect to defer training, or
   • offered admission for Fall 2027 if space for Fall 2026 does not open.
7. If, at the time an application is received, the Fall 2026 class is full and the waiting list is already too long to make Fall 2026 admission possible, the Admissions Committee may elect to consider the application beginning in Fall 2026 for matriculation in Fall 2027.

Given the rolling nature of admissions, at any point you may contact one of our Admissions Co-Chairs, Maureen Ruffell, MD (meruffellmd@alumni.tufts.edu) or Dena Sorbo, LCSW (dena.sorbo@gmail.com), to determine whether consideration for Fall 2026 remains possible.

SFCP Center-Wide Policies

Before applying, please visit our SFCP Statements and Policies page to review our policies that all participants in SFCP programs agree to uphold.

Program-Specific Policies

In addition to the center-wide policies, the following policies are specific to our Psychoanalytic Training Program:

HYBRID-LEARNING POLICY
Please review SFCP’s current policies and procedures for Hybrid Learning, available at this link

ETHICS ATTESTATION POLICY
All SFCP Trainees must attest to the following and provide any requested information:

• Has there ever been a complaint of ethical misconduct or unprofessional conduct brought against you that resulted in a determination of misconduct and ensuing sanction?
• Has there ever been a complaint or investigation of you concerning impairment?
• Have you ever been suspended from teaching or administrative functions in relation to a professional ethics or impairment issue?
• Has your membership in a professional or educational organization ever been suspended or terminated in relation to a professional ethics or impairment issue?
• Has there ever been a finding against you by a professional licensing board?

Who may apply?

Mental health clinicians
SFCP encourages applications from mental health clinicians licensed in California, including those holding D.M.H., L.C.S.W., L.M.F.T., L.P.C.C., M.D., N.P., Ph.D., or Psy.D. degrees.

• Psychiatrists must be graduates of approved medical schools, must have completed sufficient psychiatric residency to have experience treating patients in psychotherapy, and must be licensed in California.
• Doctoral-level clinicians must have doctoral-level degrees in clinical disciplines from approved programs, must have experience practicing psychotherapy, and must be licensed in California.
• Masters-level clinicians and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners must hold a relevant clinical degree from an approved program; must have experience practicing psychotherapy; and must be licensed in California.

Transfer applicants

SFCP accepts candidates who wish to transfer from other accredited member organizations of the American Psychoanalytic Association.  Transfer candidates must submit a transcript, letters of recommendation, and confirmation that they are in good standing at the member organization.  The Admissions Committee may ask for an abbreviated interview process before forwarding the application to the Dean, the Chair of the Curriculum Committee, and the Chair of the Progressions and Graduation Committee so that the candidate may be placed with the appropriate cohort and given credit for the previous psychoanalytic training where appropriate.

SFCP also considers transfer applications from trainees at accredited member organizations of the International Psychoanalytic Association.  These trainees undergo a full admission process culminating in a decision whether to accept, defer, or decline admission. If admitted, and if the candidate is requesting credit for the previous training, their transcript, letters of recommendation, and confirmation of in good standing status is reviewed by the Dean, the Chair of the Curriculum Committee and the Chair of the Progressions Committee to determine if credit can be awarded and to decide which cohort best fits the candidate’s situation.

Please contact one of our Admissions Co-Chairs, Maureen Ruffell, MD (meruffellmd@alumni.tufts.edu) or Dena Sorbo, LCSW (dena.sorbo@gmail.com) to discuss your situation if you wish to enter as a transfer candidate.

Letters of recommendation

After your application has been received, Tina Phu, the SFCP Education Coordinator, will request letters of recommendation from the individuals you have specified on the Application Form. These letters of recommendation will become part of your application packet to be reviewed by the Admissions Committee.

Interviews

Once your application has been received, you will be contacted by someone on the Admissions Committee who will discuss the interview process with you. They will provide you with the names and contact information for your four interviewers (2 personal interviewers and 2 clinical interviewers). You should reach out to these interviewers as soon as possible to schedule meetings at dates and times of mutual convenience. You and your interviewers can discuss whether the interviews will be virtual or in person.

Two separate personal interviews

If you are applying for Psychoanalytic Training, you are considering taking a developmental step in both your personal and professional life. The Personal Interviews are an opportunity to reflect on that decision with two of the members of the Admissions Committee.  Though any interview process can be stressful, we strive to be sensitive to and cognizant of those feelings as they arise. In the interview, we try to facilitate a conversation that is meaningful, with emotional resonance and depth, within an atmosphere of safety. We welcome feedback about the interview process itself as it progresses, as well as later, when you discuss the Admissions Committee’s decision with the Admissions Chair once your review is complete.

The Personal Interviews are generally conducted in one session with each interviewer.  They are intended to be an opportunity for you to share your thoughts about your readiness for psychoanalytic training with us, and for you to meet us.  We anticipate answering questions and offering feedback in the course of that discussion.  The Admissions Committee aims to make the Personal Interviews a friendly, helpful experience in which you participate in a process of thoughtful reflection in dialogue with the interviewer.  We hope that the Personal Interview will be an example of the kind of personal reflection in dialogue that is characteristic of psychoanalytic discourse.

Two clinical interviews consisting of two (or occasionally 3) meetings with each of two interviewers

Please prepare to present clinical material from two different, open-ended psychoanalytic psychotherapy treatments of your choice, one to each of your interviewers. For the initial interview with each interviewer, please prepare one or two clinical sessions (see below).  For the second interview with each interviewer, please prepare a session that took place after the initial interview so that you can discuss the impact on the work from your first discussion.  

• Format of Clinical Interviews: If your interviewers have specific preferences regarding your presentation’s format, they will let you know prior to the interview. In general, however, be prepared to start with a very brief (i.e., 5-10 minute) description of the way the treatment started, of its duration and frequency, and of major highlights of the patient’s early life, life story and sociocultural background, and how this intersects with their current situation. Please also include notable events in the treatment leading up to the sessions that you intend to present. You will then discuss process notes that you have prepared and shared with your interviewer in advance.
• Format for Process Notes: Please prepare process notes that describe the back and forth of the session for each case you plan to present. Please write your process notes in transcript format according to the example shown below:

     Patient: [Looking downcast]. I don’t feel like talking today …

     Clinician: [Feeling anxious] What’s holding you back?

Please note that we do not expect nor do we desire, a literal, word-for-word, transcript, as if from an audio recording. Rather, we are asking for your best attempt — from notes or memory — to convey the back and forth of a session. Over the course of the presentation, you and your interviewer will reflect upon, and discuss, the treatment process with a focus on your clinical work and thinking.

• Purpose of clinical interviews: The purpose of the clinical interviews is not for you to demonstrate psychoanalytic expertise, but rather for your interviewer to get to know you as a thinker and learner. We ask that you prepare your notes and present your work with thought and care, and that you join your interviewer in reflecting with curiosity and openness about your patient’s experience; about your experience of treating the patient; and about the psychological processes and challenges involved in the clinical work you present.
• Choosing Cases: The Clinical Interviews consist of at least two meetings with each interviewer, which allows for discussing each case over time. Occasionally, it may be valuable for a clinical interview to extend to more than two sessions, with the exact number of meetings to be determined in an open-ended way over the course of the presentation as you think together with the interviewer. If an interviewer does suggest a third meeting, they will explain the thinking behind their suggestion.  Please choose material for your presentations from treatments that are in progress at the time of your application. That said, we do understand that presenting material from a current caseload may not be possible. If so, the Admissions Chair will help you think about presenting cases from your past caseload.

Admissions Decisions

Once your interviews are complete, your application will be discussed at a meeting of the Admissions Committee. The committee meets monthly, usually on the first Thursday, between September and June. The entire Admissions Committee, including your four interviewers, will be present to discuss your application. You will be contacted soon thereafter to inform you of the decision.

There are four possible outcomes to your application:

1. Acceptance for matriculation that coming fall or, in the event the class is full, for matriculation the subsequent fall.
2. A recommendation to reapply after gaining further experience in psychoanalytic approaches (e.g., a recommendation to pursue additional psychoanalytic psychotherapy study/analytic consultation; a recommendation to begin a personal psychoanalysis or deepen a personal psychoanalytic psychotherapy)
3. A request for further interviews to assess your readiness for psychoanalytic training
4. A determination of incompatibility with our psychoanalytic training program at this time

The goal of the Admissions Committee is to develop candidates for training. If you are not accepted for training at this time, someone from the committee will inform you of the committee’s rationale for the decision. They will answer any further questions you might have about the process or the outcome, and give you the opportunity to provide your feedback. They will also discuss in detail the ways that you might continue to develop yourself personally and/or professionally if the committee makes a recommendation that you reapply for training after undertaking some additional work. This might include getting further psychoanalytically-oriented consultation to develop your clinical work to a point that will support a training process, or could include beginning psychotherapy/psychoanalysis if it is felt that further personal development would better prepare you to begin training.

If you are a close relative of a member of the Center, the SFCP Admissions Committee will not review your application. Rather, we will request that another member organization of the American Psychoanalytic Association evaluate it and make an admissions decision. Please contact one of our Admissions Co-Chairs, Maureen Ruffell, MD (meruffellmd@alumni.tufts.edu) or Dena Sorbo, LCSW (dena.sorbo@gmail.com), to discuss arrangements for having your application reviewed by another member organization. SFCP will abide by the member organization’s decision regarding your application.

After Admission to Psychoanalytic Training

1. Within one week of receiving verbal notification of acceptance from the Admissions Committee, you will receive a formal Letter of Acceptance, via email, from the Chair of the Psychoanalytic Education Division, along with an Acceptance of Admission Form.
2. Accepted applicants must confirm their intent to enroll.
   
   
   1. For those notified of acceptance on or before January 15, 2026, confirmation must occur within 30 days.
   2. For those notified of acceptance between January 16 and February 1, confirmation must occur on or before February 15, 2026.
      
      
   3. For those notified of acceptance after February 1, confirmation must occur within 14 days. 

      Confirmation involves signing and returning an Acceptance of Admission Form to the SFCP Education Coordinator and providing a credit card to which to charge deposit and subsequent tuition payments. 

3. An enrollment deposit of $1630* is required to hold a position in the upcoming Fall class. *Please note: 2026 deposit and other fees are projected to increase by 3–5%.

   If you are accepted prior to February 15, this deposit will be charged to your card on February 15th.  If you are accepted after February 15, the deposit will be charged to your credit card as soon as your Acceptance of Admission form is submitted.

4. The Admissions Committee will make your acceptance known to the administrative staff and the Chair of the Psychoanalytic Education Division.

Deferrals and Decisions Not to Matriculate

1. Accepted applicants who decide that they wish neither to matriculate in Fall 2026 nor to defer to Fall 2027 must let the Admissions Chairs and the office know of this decision before their deposit is charged on February 15. 
   
   
2. Accepted applicants may defer admission once by postponing their enrollment to the fall 2027 cohort year after they are accepted.
   
   
3. Accepted applicants must notify the Admissions Co-Chair and the office of an intent to defer prior to February 15.  The $1550* deposit will be charged to them on February 15 to hold the spot, and 50% of that will be applied to the following year’s deposit. *Please note: 2026 deposit and other fees are projected to increase by 3–5%.
   
   
4. As above, applicants accepted after February 15 have two weeks to confirm their intent to defer by signing the acceptance form and paying the non-refundable deposit. The $1550* deposit will be charged to them at that time to hold the spot, and 50% of that will be applied to their deposit for the following year’s deposit. *Please note: 2026 deposit and other fees are projected to increase by 3–5%.
   
   
5. If an applicant does decide to defer, they will be asked to have one further interview with either the Dean or the Psychoanalytic Education Division Chair in Fall 2027.
   
   
6. If an applicant decides not to matriculate after a one-year deferral, they must re-apply in order to be considered again for training. 

Enrollment 

By the time of program enrollment in May, you are required to have begun a personal psychoanalysis at a minimum of three times per week with a Training Analyst approved by SFCP. You are encouraged to begin your personal psychoanalysis as soon as possible.

1. By May 1, you will receive a Psychoanalytic Training Program Enrollment Form which you must complete and return by May 31. The form contains information regarding the upcoming training year and requires the following:
   
   
   • A detachable form (which will be kept separate from your Enrollment Form and viewable only by the PED Chair Beth Steinberg) which requests the name of your analyst, and affirms that by May 2025 you have begun a personal psychoanalysis with an SFCP-approved Training Analyst at a frequency of three times per week or more (even if the application process is not complete in May).
     
   • A SFCP Training Analyst and Consulting Analyst Eligibility Disclosure Form describing eligibility criteria for SFCP Training Analysts and Consulting Analysts and recommendations for seeking help if candidates have concerns.
     
   • Notification to the Curriculum Committee Chair regarding any clinical conflicts you have with any instructors scheduled to teach in Year 1.
     
   • A commitment that you will abide by all mandatory SFCP policies for confidentiality, attendance, feedback, and hybrid learning as described on the website and in the Enrollment Form.
     
   • Selection of a tuition payment plan of your choosing.
     
2. If you have requested credit for training that you have begun at another organization, SFCP’s Progressions and Graduation Committee, Dean, and Curriculum Committee will collaborate to determine whether credit can be assigned for your previous or ongoing supervised psychoanalysis or for coursework you have completed.
   
3. For planning purposes, please be aware that — barring conflict with major holidays — classes will begin the first Friday after Labor Day (8:00 am – 1:45 pm), and all incoming candidates are requested to attend an Orientation to psychoanalytic training on the Wednesday before classes begin (7:30 – 9:30 pm).