Our Mission

The International Psychotherapy Institute and its members are committed to:

Providing a vibrant learning community with a broad range of programs in theory and clinical skills for the professional growth of mental health professionals;

Offering training and educational opportunities for professionals at all levels of experience, from new therapists to seasoned clinicians;

Assuring open access, by welcoming new and occasional participants, and by offering extensive affiliate programs in national and international locales;

Mentoring program graduates to help them assume leadership roles in clinical, educational and supervisory contexts, both in their local communities and on the national and international scene;

Maintaining a spirit of intellectual openness and curiosity while remaining grounded in an Object Relations approach to thinking, learning and teaching;

Expanding therapists’ understanding of the use of self, through training in the Institute’s Group Affective Learning Model;

Incorporating community service and diverse membership throughout the Institute.

IPI's Teaching Objectives

To teach dynamic psychotherapy from the standpoint of the theoretical and clinical contributions of Fairbairn, Klein, Bion, Winnicott, Bowlby, Fonagy & Target, Sutherland, Bollas, Ogden, Ferro, Scharff & Scharff and other contemporary theorists.

To understand the original theories of object relations: Fairbairn’s view of the personality as a system of self and object in dynamic relation; Klein’s projective/introjective identification and intrapsychic positions; Winnicott’s study of the mother-infant dyad; Bowlby’s attachment theory; Bion’s container/contained.

To understand advances in theory such as the analytic third, extractive introjection, parent-infant development, neuroscience, affect regulation in the growth of self, psychic genera, trauma and regeneration, chaos theory, the geography of transference and countertransference, attachment patterns, Pichon-Riviere’s idea of the link, mentalization, and the growth of self reflection.

To apply object relations theory to technique in individual, family, couple and group therapy and to work with institutions, businesses, and organizations.

To integrate theory with personal and clinical experience in small group settings.

To apply the use the therapist’s self to the clinical situation, through understanding transference and countertransference, listening to the unconscious, responding interpretively from inside your own experience, and providing a holding environment.

To further public understanding and acceptance of the role of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in the mental health of individuals, families and institutions.