As a modern psychoanalyst I bring a ‘healthy ignorance’ to every patient. Yes, I’m well-trained, I’ve been schooled, I’ve spent a lot of time studying, but the person who walks in that door is different than the person who just walked out the door, or the next person who’s going to walk in the door. I have to learn from that patient what they need from me. I may have some ideas, thoughts about how I might want to work with them, but they have to create in me, with my help, the analyst they need. I need to be a certain way for each person and that may be different for every person.
In order to get a Certificate in Psychoanalysis you have to start with at least a master’s degree. The certificate program is 96 graduate level credits, and it’s the equivalent work of a doctorate.
I come from a background in psychoanalysis. My grandfather, Immanuel Velikovsky, who was a very interesting man is his own right, was a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He knew Freud and Jung and trained with Wilhelm Stekel. My mother, mid-life, became a psychoanalyst so I’m third generation. That’s as far back as you can go as my grandfather knew Freud. Psychoanalysis is in my blood.
I am a Nationally Certified Psychoanalyst. There are only two states that license psychoanalysts currently: New York and Vermont. New Jersey just started state certifying psychoanalysts, which is similar to a license. There are rules and regulations, there is a regulatory Board, and a 3-hour exam. I’m the 15th person to pass it, so I’m a State Certified Psychoanalyst and a Nationally Certified Psychoanalyst. ~ Rafael Sharón, NCPsyA, SCPsyA, Psychoanalyst in Princeton NJ