Shifting to a Specialty and Subspecialty Developmental Model: Making Specialist Pathways in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology and Psychoanalysis More Accessible, Equitable, and Inclusive

The American Board and Academy of Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology (ABAPPP) is a Specialty Board of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). The board certification exam in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology (PA/PD) certifies that candidates have met all specialty-specific educational, training, and experiential requirements that lead to demonstrated specialty competence. PA/PD specialty board certification is a prerequisite for subspecialty certification in Psychoanalysis.

The recent shift within both CRSSPP and ABPP towards the specialty and subspecialty configuration based on the Education and Training Taxonomy and specialty and subspecialty-specific competencies provided an opportunity for ABAPPP to restructure our long-standing specialty in psychoanalysis. The Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology and Psychoanalysis Specialty Council (PPPPSC) considered how to align our specialty requirements with other specialties and to increase the inclusion of the broad range of education and training, clinical populations, and professional settings of the psychologists we represent.

In 2021, the PPPPSC, in collaboration with the Board of Directors of both APA Division 39 and ABAPP, prepared the CRSSPP specialty renewal petition. The specialty and subspecialty petitions converted the existing specialty of Psychoanalysis into a subspecialty, while establishing the new PA/PD specialty. This change established formal APA recognition and ABPP certification for psychoanalytic psychology, while recognizing MAS-level post-licensure training in Psychoanalysis as the first and only APA subspecialty. This transition to a new specialty/subspecialty configuration was supported by a variety of representative stakeholder organizations, and included representatives from doctoral and postdoctoral training programs, as well as psychoanalytic institutes.

An ad hoc Committee for Specialty and Subspecialty Petitions was established, featuring a cross-generational mix of graduate students, postdoctoral psychologists, early career psychologists, and senior ABPP psychologists. The committee aimed to enhance inclusivity by selecting writers from traditionally underrepresented groups. In 2022, CRSSPP approved the petition, followed by approval by APA Council of Representatives in August 2022. In June 2023, the ABPP Board of Trustees formally approved the new configuration and accompanying examination manuals. Most recently, APA Council of Accreditation (CoA) approved the Level 3 specialty competencies and Educational and Training Guidelines for postdoctoral PA/PD residency training programs.

Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapies utilize techniques and perspectives that emphasize relationships, depth, and insight as the cornerstone to addressing a broad range of psychological and social problems in functioning and well-being more broadly.  These evidence-based therapies typically emphasize relationship patterns, internal processes, and transferential/countertransferential dynamics, which can lead to better relationships, increased capacity for emotional regulation, and enhanced decision-making abilities. PA/PD trained psychologists, having undergone therapy themselves, are well-acquainted with the clinical experience of navigating life’s emotional and psychological challenges. PA/PD therapies can be adapted for short or long-term interventions and are suitable for individuals, groups, couples and families, or organizations.

Building on the foundation of the specialty, the subspecialty in Psychoanalysis is a Major Area of Study at the post-licensure stage of training, with a specific set of requirements, including a personal psychoanalysis, and supervisory and didactic experiences in psychoanalysis. Between the specialty and subspecialty a broad range of therapeutic services are offered in a wide-range of settings, across all age groups, ethnicities, races, genders, sexual orientations, and economic backgrounds.