Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Association (Modified Entry Scheme)

The practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy seeks to explore, understand and work in depth with the emotional problems of another. It necessarily requires a rigorous and thorough training which entails the therapist’s time and commitment and the capacity to explore themselves in their own personal therapy.

Our training is underpinned by a theoretical framework derived from the rich, longstanding and well-founded psychoanalytic traditions of Freud, Klein, Bion, Winnicott and the British Object Relations School. Based on Freud’s discovery and elaboration of the unconscious and its effects in everyday life, the work explores the ways that unconscious aspects and conflicts of the personality may be hindering development and informing conscious choices in an unhelpful way.

Intensive Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy involves seeing a patient three times a week, usually on the couch.  This frequency, together with the psychoanalytic setting, enables a depth of contact between therapist and patient that is significant and effective. It is an internationally recognized standard of psychoanalytic work that is also practically manageable in terms of time, costs and the other demands of contemporary life.

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy allows for a sustained and meaningful therapeutic relationship to develop, enabling both patient and therapist to explore and understand the patient’s difficulties and conflicts in their inner world, in the safe and contained setting of the consulting room. Treatment aims to reach beyond the initial symptoms which may have initiated the desire for therapy, to the underlying causes which reside in deeper layers of the personality. Working in this way can provide profound and lasting change for the patient, and hopefully a rewarding and creative experience for both therapist and patient.

The programme follows all the clinical requirements of the full training. Modified entrants will be required to complete a minimum of 30 theoretical seminars offered by the PPA during the course of the training. The theoretical curriculum will be chosen in discussion with a personal tutor to supplement previous theoretical learning.

Trainees will undertake the treatment of two intensive training cases, each seen with weekly supervision, and will be required to attend weekly clinical seminars until qualification.

The theory and clinical seminars are held on Tuesday evenings, between 6.30 – 09:45pm. There are two Saturday seminars per term, with additional plenary sessions with the PPA Training Committee. A further seminar, for those completing an Infant Observation, is attended, at a time to suit the individual during the first year (or two, if a two-year observation is undertaken).

Personal therapy, infant observation and psychiatric experience

Modified entrants are expected to have undertaken a full personal psychotherapy/analysis with an approved therapist at a frequency of at least 3 times weekly, for at least five years. Such therapy, if no longer current, should not have ended more than five years before starting the training via the MES route.

If previous intensive psychotherapy/analysis has not been undertaken, trainees will be expected to have started this with an approved PPA Training Therapist prior to the start of the course.

For those who have completed a full personal psychotherapy/analysis, further therapy may be recommended on the basis of the selection interviews, and may emerge as a requirement at the discretion of the PPA Training Committee during the course.

Trainees are expected to have completed an Infant Observation course. When an Infant Observation was not undertaken, trainees will be required to complete one during the training. Trainees are expected to have gained some psychiatric experience during their previous training. Those without psychiatric experience will be required to undertake a psychiatric placement during the training.

Undertaking clinical training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy represents a major personal investment in terms of time, finances and individual development. We are currently unable to offer financial support to trainees. However, we review our fees regularly with the aim to keep them as affordable as possible.

2025/2026 Course Fees:

The first part of the MES PPA training costs £4,244, which is paid once, and contains a theory curriculum. After completing this, the fees are reduced to £1,994 p/a whilst completing the clinical component.

If an Infant Observation is undertaken there is an additional fee of £1,653.

Trainees also pay an annual bpf membership fee of £144.45 which provides access to the bpf library, to PEPWEB (an excellent online resource of psychoanalytic literature), and access to bpf’s wide-ranging scientific and cultural life.

The trainee’s fees for their own personal therapy is negotiated with the training therapist on an individual basis. Similarly, when beginning to see training patients the cost of supervision will be discussed with each training supervisor. Trainees will need to provide an appropriate setting to see training patients and this may involve room rental costs.

View PPA Curriculum

Attend our Virtual Open Day to watch a presentation about this course.

The building has limited access – please email [email protected] or call us on 020 8452 9823 to discuss your needs.

If you are considering training with the PPA, please email the PPA Training Manager, ([email protected]), who will provide you with a preliminary questionnaire. Once the questionnaire is completed, you will be put in contact with a PPA Training Advisor – a member of the PPA Training Committee. Before contacting the PPA Training Manager, please ensure you have carefully read the information on the PPA pages of the bpf website including the entry requirements.

PPA Training Advisors can help you prepare to apply, as well as answer questions about the structure, content and cost of the training. If your enquiry is at an early stage, the PPA Training Advisor can offer guidance with regard to the next steps to consider, including how to find an approved training therapist.

Applications for the MES route may be submitted throughout the year.

The bpf is committed to diversity and inclusivity in all the work we deliver. We are fully dedicated to promoting, maintaining and supporting equality of opportunity in all aspects of our organisation and, as such, the bpf welcomes applications from all sections of society.