Mental Health Practitioners

Appendix A
Requirements for Supervised Experience - Psychoanalyst

The experience requirement for licensure as a psychoanalyst requires completion of a supervised experience of at least 1,500 clock hours providing psychoanalysis in a setting acceptable to the Department. Supervised experience obtained in the education program required for licensure as a psychoanalyst may meet all or part of this requirement. All experience must be documented on Form 4B.

The supervised experience and practice under a limited permit must meet the following supervision and setting requirements.

Supervision of Experience

The supervisor must:

• have completed a bachelor's or higher degree program in psychoanalysis, or in the subject of the field in which the supervisor is licensed (see below), or another field related to the field of psychoanalysis as determined by the Department; and
• be licensed and registered in New York State to practice psychoanalysis, medicine, as a physician assistant, psychology, licensed clinical social work, or as a registered professional nurse or nurse practitioner, or must have the equivalent qualifications as determined by the Department*; and
• have at least three years of practice on a full-time basis, or the part-time equivalent, in psychoanalysis. Practice on a full-time basis means 800 clock hours in the practice of psychoanalysis earned over a 52-week period.

There must be contact between the applicant and the supervisor during which:

• the applicant apprises the supervisor of the treatment of each client;
• the applicant's cases are discussed with the supervisor in conformity with federal and state laws regarding the confidentiality of patient-identifiable information;
• the supervisor provides the applicant with oversight and guidance in developing skills as a psychoanalyst, including but not limited to, the analysis of resistance, transference, counter-transference, and unconscious processes in the practice of psychoanalysis; and
• the supervisor provides an average of one hour per week or two hours every other week of in-person individual or group supervision. NOTE: Supervision may only be provided in formats other than in-person with the approval of the Department based on good cause, including but not limited to, inability to locate a sufficient number of qualified supervisors to perform in-person supervision and an acceptable plan to provide the supervision through an alternative format.

Setting for Experience

The setting in which the experience is obtained must be a location at which legally authorized individuals provide services that constitute the practice of psychoanalysis, as defined in Education Law, and must be responsible for the services provided by individuals gaining experience for licensure. The setting cannot be a private practice owned or operated by the applicant.

The practice of psychoanalysis is defined in Education Law as:

• the observation, description, evaluation, and interpretation of dynamic unconscious mental processes that contribute to the formation of personality and behavior in order to identify and resolve unconscious psychic problems which affect interpersonal relationships and emotional development, to facilitate changes in personality and behavior through the use of verbal and nonverbal cognitive and emotional communication, and to develop adaptive functioning; and
• the use of assessment instruments and mental health counseling and psychotherapy to identify, evaluate and treat dysfunctions and disorders for purposes of providing appropriate psychoanalytic services.