Working with Children & Adolescents: Relational Psychoanalytic Approaches

This program is a one-year evening training program specifically designed for mental health professionals who work with children, adolescents, and their families. It includes theory courses and a year-long clinical practicum which provide a solid understanding of child development (infant, child, and adolescent) and treatment from the perspective of relational psychoanalytic theories, brain development, attachment theory, trauma theory, and contemporary infant research studies.

Clinicians will learn to engage, assess, and intervene with infants, children and teenagers through a variety of treatment techniques which include infant-parent therapy, play therapy, the use of transference and countertransference with children and adolescents, overcoming impasses in treatment, and working with parents and the larger systems in which the older child functions.

Clinicians will individualize their assessment and treatment planning for a diverse range of child psychopathology and child strengths. They will learn how to intervene effectively with the child's family at all ages: using videotaping and feedback sessions with the parent-infant dyad, using family therapy techniques with older children and teenagers. They will consider successful referral and collaboration strategies with auxiliary services, which so often are a part of child therapy.

Special attention will be paid to the ways in which socio-cultural factors influence both clinicians and clients.

There are no required clinical hours, supervision, or personal psychotherapy for this program. Candidates may choose to consult individually or as a group with a child psychology clinical consultant.

Length of Program:  One year, comprised of three 10-week trimesters.

Certificate Conferred:  Certificate of completion awarded for one-year course of study

Eligibility:  Master's degree level social workers, psychologists, and psychiatric nurses; physicians; licensed mental health counselors; licensed marriage and family therapists; pastoral counselors; Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselors; educators; and other mental health professionals with experience working with children, adolescents, and their families

Meeting Day:  Wednesday evenings, 6:15 pm to 9:00 pm

Applications: Accepted beginning March 1, 2013, for the 2013.2014 academic year. Download a copy of the application.

Tuition & Fees:  Tuition for the 2012.2013 academic year was $2,260.00, plus a $75.00 non-refundable application fee.

Application Procedure:  An interview and letters of recommendation are required along with the application and $75.00 application fee.

Curriculum: The program consists of two interrelated course sequences divided throughout the three trimesters. The three course theory sequence provides a solid grounding in infant, child and adolescent development as understood through the lens of relational psychoanalytic theories, brain development, attachment theory, trauma theory and contemporary infant research studies. The three course practicum sequence stresses the integration of theory into practical clinical applications in order to enhance the clinician's capacity to engage, assess, and intervene with the infants, children and families. Over the course of study clinicians will acquire an understanding of the techniques of play therapy, the management and interpretation of transference with children and adolescents, the therapeutic use of countertransference, how to overcome resistances and impasses in treatment, the role of parental contacts in the treatment of children and adolescents, the foundations of infant-parent therapy and how to intervene in the larger systems in which children are situated. The overriding emphasis of the program is on providing hands-on clinical skills that will enhance clinical practice.

Theory Class Sequence:

Child Development I: Infancy Through age Toddlerhood. This course will provide a solid foundation in early childhood development. Readings will offer the clinician the ability to apply and integrate key concepts from a wide range of relational theories of development: object relations, self-psychology, attachment theory and interpersonal psychoanalysis. Selections from contemporary infant research, dyadic systems studies, affect regulation theory, trauma theory and brain development will be utilized to gain a detailed understanding of the developing infant and child.

Child Development II. School-aged children Through to Emerging Adulthood. Candidates will gain an understanding of the physiological, psychological and interpersonal transformations which mark the development of the child from early school age through adolescence to emerging adulthood. Readings are designed to provide a conceptual framework with which to understand the child's emergence into the wider interpersonal world of peer relationships, burgeoning sexuality and the school setting.

Psychopathology and Atypical Neurology. The focus of this course is on the diverse categories of psychopathology encountered by the clinician working with infants, children and adolescents. Candidates will enhance their assessment and treatment planning capacities through an in depth understanding of relational psychoanalytic, attachment theory, trauma theory and DSM perspectives on diagnosis. In addition we will examine neural cognitive disorders including pervasive developmental delay, non-verbal learning disabilities, attention deficit-hyperactive disorder, and sensory integration disorders.

Clinical Practicum Sequence:

Clinical Practicum I: Candidates will gain the clinical skills required to meet the challenges of the initial phase of treatment including how to engage children, adolescents and their parents in a therapeutic process; establishing a treatment framework; forming collaborative relationships with other professionals and handling matters of confidentiality. Candidates will also develop the knowledge foundation in relational psychodynamic assessment and treatment planning that will allow them to formulate interventions targeting their client's specific needs.

Clinical Practicum II: This course will provide the skills required to conduct ongoing treatments with infants, children and adolescents. Candidates will learn how to conduct infant-mother dyadic therapy, play therapy with younger children, and talk-oriented therapy with adolescents. Candidates will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of the relational psychoanalytic perspective on treatment including the use of transference and countertransference, overcoming resistance in children and adolescents, the nature of therapeutic action, resolving impasses in treatment and the specialized use of interpretation with children and adolescents. Finally, targeted interventions drawing on problem- solving, cognitive and behavior therapies will be integrated into the clinician's set of skills.

Clinical Practicum III: The focus of this course is on skillful clinical interventions at the systemic levels of dyad, family and community. Candidates will learn how to intervene effectively within the parent-infant dyad through the use of videotaping and feedback sessions. Participants will learn key theoretical models of family-systems therapy and how to integrate these models when including families in the treatment. Candidates will develop the capacity to intervene in the various contexts in which school-aged children and adolescents are situated, especially the school setting and in peer groups. Special attention will be paid to the ways in which socio-cultural factors influence both client and clinician. We will further consider the need for referring to and collaborating with auxiliary treatment modalities. Lastly, candidates will increase their clinical knowledge of the issues and tasks of the termination phase.

For more information, please contact Fernando Rodas, Manager of Academic Affairs, at 646.783.7718 or frodas@nipinst.org.