Piece of Mind
by Andrew Harlem, PhD
NEW PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYD PROGRAM AT CIIS
The PsyD program at the California Institute of Integral Studies has always sought to train mental health professionals who could think outside the box. In recent years, however, we've found it increasingly difficult to provide the kind of depth-oriented, holistic, interdisciplinary training we value within the narrow views imposed by APA accreditation.
We are happy to announce that we've decided to pursue an alternative path at CIIS -- one that integrates the principles of integral education with specialized training in psychodynamic psychotherapy. The new PsyD program is specifically designed for individuals who, having already obtained a master's degree in counseling psychology (or closely related field) wish to deepen their training through advanced study. Students receive advanced training through sequenced coursework in the philosophical foundations of psychoanalytic thought, psychodynamic perspectives on the therapeutic relationship, personal and social dimensions of the unconscious, and radical and critical approaches in psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Informed by recent developments in feminist and cultural psychoanalysis, as well as by the broad "relational turn" that has reinvigorated psychodynamic thinking over the last three decades, we view identity/intersectionality as an essential site of inquiry and a crucial factor in the therapeutic relationship. Our faculty is also interested in the intersections between psychodynamic psychotherapy and humanistic, existential, somatic, and transpersonal psychotherapies. We also cultivate dialogues between Western psychology and other wisdom/spiritual traditions. Students in the program take cutting-edge electives in areas such as Buddhism and psychotherapy, mindfulness and meditation, comparative mystical practice, psychedelic studies, as well as a periodic (and optional) travel course to Sri Lanka to study Ayurvedic medicine, folk life, and other indigenous forms of wisdom.
Please help us spread the word of this new direction. We are currently hiring faculty with expertise in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Interested candidates can find application information here.