the research candidate
for candidate applicants who are not mental health professionals
Research Candidate Program – Criteria for Eligibility:
- Research Candidates cannot be mental health professionals, nor can they have been educated in the field of mental health. Rather, they must have been educated in the humanities, broadly speaking, and must have received a doctorate, or, alternatively, the highest degree offered in the field of study. Potential Candidates must have done some kind of work in the study of psychoanalytic theory, or have had some verifiable interest in psychoanalysis, before seeking admission as a Research Candidate. Potential Candidates may have taught psychoanalysis at a school, college, or university. They might have published a psychoanalytically informed paper in an academic journal. They might be strategically placed to carry psychoanalytic influence into their working environment in which they work or teach.
- The potential Candidate must meet the criteria for admission established by ICP for all potential Candidates in training for psychoanalysis.
- If applicants wish to train as a clinical Research Candidate, they must apply to be registered as a “Student Research Psychoanalyst” with the California Board of Psychology (BoP)
- If applicants wish to train as clinical Research Candidates, they are required to have a year of supervised work in a clinical setting. The yearlong clinical experience can begin before or after the candidate is accepted and matriculated, but it must be completed before beginning a Control Case. After completing the year in a clinical setting, the research candidate’s performance will be monitored in precisely the same way as any other Candidate in training. The research candidate must maintain registration with the California Board of Psychology throughout training.
