Psychoanalytic psychotherapy training
Training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy enables you to become a member of SIP and register with the BPC. You can work in private practice or in an agency setting offering up to thrice weekly psychoanalytic psychotherapy, either short or long term.
As a member of SIP you will be part of a community of psychotherapists and will have access to events and CPD. Our members are vital to the running of the organisation, there are many ways to get involved.
How does it work?
We have a 3 year rolling curriculum, during which time all trainees attend Theory and Clinical Concepts seminars together.
Post curricular training - during the post-curricular period, trainees complete all written work, including any training patient work and their Final Clinical Paper. They continue to attend Clinical Seminars (where they are joined by curricular trainees), they also continue to work with both supervisors and their training therapist until graduation. The length of this period varies from trainee to trainee.
Graduation is on passing the Final Clinical Paper
Trainees have the support of a personal tutor throughout their training.
Eligibility for clinical training
Pre-clinical Training, Personal Therapy, Clinical Experience, Experience Working In a Psychiatric Setting.
How much does it cost?
2025-26: Training Application Fee £179, payable upon submission of application (non-refundable)
2025-26: Curricular £4,365 per annum
2025-26: Post-Curricular £669 per term
Components of psychoanalytic psychotherapy training
The training is comprised of five elements, and you’ll need to complete each one in order to qualify.
Personal training therapy
Your training therapy must be at least 3 times per week, and begin at least 18 months before the start of clinical training, and will continue until graduation.
The personal therapy is integral to the training; enabling the trainee to develop a deeper understanding and insight of their own unconscious and internal processes. This personal experience of being a patient alongside the other training components offers a unique opportunity to evolve personally and as a practitioner
SIP’s training therapists are carefully chosen for their skills and experience to hold you through the rigours of this training.
If you are already in therapy with a BPC registered psychoanalytic psychotherapist, they may be able and willing to apply to become a SIP-approved training therapist. However, you should be prepared for the possibility of needing to change therapist and should therefore allow sufficient time to end with your existing therapist and begin with a new one. If you are already enrolled in SIPs pre-clinical courses, you can ask your tutor for advice.
Supervised clinical work
Supervised clinical work is where you learn to apply theory and hone your skills in the practice room. You will see your supervisor once per week while working with your three times per week training patients. You will produce clinical reports that you work through with your supervisor.
The minimum requirement for supervised clinical work is:
One training patient seen thrice weekly for 2 years , One training patient seen thrice weekly for 18 months, Supervised clinical work with other patients once, twice, or thrice weekly in a work setting.
SIP can help trainees to find suitable training patients through our Consultation and Referral Service.
Theoretical seminars
You will attend both Theory and Clinical Concepts seminars each week during term time.
Theory covers Klein, Jung , Independents, Contemporary Freud. Clinical Concepts covers Transference and Countertransference, Assessment , Ethics, Psychic change, Trauma, Anxiety and Depression, Narcissism, Perversion and Borderline States, Analytic technique.
Clinical seminars
You will attend clinical seminars each week during term time until qualification. Here you will present your work with training patients to a group of trainees, supported by a SIP member.
Written work
Trainees produce at least 7 reports on their training patients (up to 2000 words)
A theory paper after they finish curricular training (4000 words)
A Final CLinical Paper of 7-10,000 words
Training venue
All training takes place at our headquarters in central Bristol:
11 Orchard Street
Bristol
BS1 5EH
Because we’re the training institute for the South West, trainees come from across the region, and training therapy and supervision is available in Bristol and beyond.
If you have particular access needs please let us know as soon as possible so that we can discuss how best to meet these.