Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Begin your professional education in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy is one of the Iranian Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies (IRCP)’s specialist long-term educational programmes. It provides systematic education in adult psychoanalytic psychotherapy based on the British Object Relations tradition.

By combining theoretical teaching, supervision, clinical seminars, and individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy, the programme supports participants in gradually developing analytic thinking, an understanding of unconscious dynamics, and the professional capacities required for psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

The programme is founded on the principle that professional development does not arise through theoretical study alone. It develops through the continuing interaction of study, personal psychotherapy, supervision, and clinically informed learning.

Why This Programme?

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy involves more than applying therapeutic techniques. It requires the capacity to observe, think about, and understand a patient’s emotional experience within the therapeutic relationship.

This programme is designed to help participants deepen their theoretical knowledge, develop their capacity for analytic listening and formulation, and establish a sustained connection between psychoanalytic theory and clinical experience.

Programme Features

• Systematic education in adult psychoanalytic psychotherapy
• Grounding in the British Object Relations tradition
• Integration of theoretical learning and clinical experience
• Continuing supervision throughout the programme
• Progressive development of the therapist’s professional identity
• A specialist pathway following completion of foundational psychoanalytic education

Educational Structure

• Theoretical teaching
• Theory and Practice Seminars (TAPS)
• Supervision
• Clinical seminars
• Individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy, normally at least once per week

Key Areas of Study

Theoretical Studies

Participants study foundational and advanced concepts in psychodynamic psychotherapy and the British Object Relations tradition, including:

• Foundations of psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis
• British Object Relations theory
• The work of Melanie Klein
• The paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions
• Mourning, melancholia, reparation, and psychic change
• Envy, gratitude, and emotional development
• The Oedipus complex from psychoanalytic perspectives
• Symbolisation and the development of the capacity to think
• The work of Winnicott, Bion, Steiner, and other contemporary theorists
• The development of the internal world and personality organisation

Theory and Practice Seminars (TAPS)

TAPS sessions explore theoretical concepts in relation to clinical material and practice. Topics include:

• Initial interview and assessment
• Psychodynamic formulation
• The therapeutic alliance
• Transference and countertransference
• Analytic listening
• Resistance and therapeutic interventions
• Interpretation in psychodynamic psychotherapy
• Managing the therapeutic process
• Working with complex and challenging patients
• Endings and termination

Clinically Informed Learning

• Clinical seminars
• Supervision
• Case presentation and analysis
• Group discussion of therapeutic processes
• Individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy, normally at least once per week

Who Is This Programme For?

• Psychiatry trainees and qualified psychiatrists
• Psychology students and graduates
• Licensed mental health professionals

Admission Requirements

• Completion of the Foundation Programme in Psychoanalysis or an equivalent programme approved by IRCP
• Individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy with an IRCP-approved therapist, normally at least once per week
• Commitment to regular participation in the educational programme and supervision

Important: Individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy and supervision form part of the educational requirements. The cost of individual psychotherapy is not included in the programme tuition and is arranged separately. Supervision for one patient is included within the educational programme; supervision costs for additional patients are the participant’s responsibility.

Academic Team

Scientific Leads

Dr Mohammad Sanati
Distinguished Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, United Kingdom
Chair, Iranian Branch of the World Association for Dynamic Psychiatry (WADP)

Dr Mahdieh Moin
Psychiatrist and former faculty member, Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Member of the British Psychoanalytical Society
Former Director of the Psychotherapy Fellowship Programme, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS)

Programme Coordinator

Dr Saeedeh Negahban
Psychiatrist
Psychotherapy Fellow

This programme is an educational programme of the Iranian Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies (IRCP). Information presented on this website is for educational and programme-information purposes.