History

The Institute for Relational Psychoanalysis (IRPP) was founded, with faculty support from the Stephen A. Mitchell Center in New York, as a Philadelphia center devoted to the in-depth study of and training in relational psychoanalysis. In keeping with central relational principles, we constructed our program to encourage critical thought in regard to psychoanalytic theories of mind, as well as to the social and cultural contexts and meanings of our work. Please refer to the About Us page, as well as our Curriculum, for fuller descriptions.

Our institute began its first class in January 2007. However, the structure of our school and a committed cohort of candidates have been in the making since 1992, with the founding of the Philadelphia Center for Psychoanalytic Education (PCPE) by members of PSPP. The full analytic training program consists of four years of coursework, supervised analytic work, personal analysis, and a one-year psychoanalytic process group.  Our curriculum makes use of a combination of in-person and distance instruction. We have designed our program so that it closely follows most of the standards set forth by the Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education (ACPE), with exceptions made thoughtfully when our training philosophy or individual circumstances suggest the need for greater flexibility within the general confines of the standards. 

Since opening our doors in 2007, our faculty has included many of the leading names in Relational Psychoanalysis, including Tony Bass, Jessica Benjamin, Joyce Slochower, Jody Davies, Sue Grand, Irwin Hoffman, Donnel Stern, Steven Knoblauch, Steven Kuchuck, Stuart and Barbara Pizer, Therese Ragen, Adrienne Harris, Ken Corbett, Muriel Dimen, Virginia Goldner, Darlene Ehrenberg, Steven Seligman, Neil Altman, and Neil Skolnick, among others.  Our local faculty has expanded with each successive graduating class, so that we now have a significant corps of local teachers and supervisors.

Over the last several years, we have augmented our adult analytic training with a variety of other options, including, depending on the year: short courses (often in collaboration with PCPE), a one-year Foundations program, supervision groups, and a one-year course on relational approaches to adolescence and identity in a contemporary context.  We are excited now to be announcing a new training model, beginning in Fall, 2019.  Our Foundations program will be expanded to two years, and students can opt to take this as a stand-alone program, or use it as a springboard into the analytic training program (4 years total) or our new Child Intensive Program (3 years total). adding a two-year intensive child and family training program, which can be done separate from or in addition to the four year analytic training.