Prague Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies
Explorations of mind, brain, society, ecology and culture
Courses and Training
Online and in-person learning
The Prague Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies offers psychoanalytic and psychological courses on a wide range of topics. All courses are taught by Dr Joseph Dodds PhD, a certified psychoanalyst (IPA), registered clinical psychotherapist (UKCP, CAP), chartered psychologist (BPS, ČMPS) and senior university lecturer (AAU, UNYP) with two decades of teaching experience and clinical practice. All courses are based on existing classes taught at university level and psychoanalytic training seminars, but have been developed here to be taken as shorter more focused seminar-based classes for smaller groups (maximum 6 people per group) to give each participant individual attention. Tailor-made workshops can be developed for you or your organisation based on need. Courses take place online via zoom, and at the Prague Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies in Prague. Please write here for more details. Currently all classes are to be held online due to the coronavirus. New courses on ‘Psychoanalysis in the digital age: self and psychotherapy online’ and ‘Psychoanalysis and Coronavirus’ are currently being developed.
Course Dates
The following are currently planned course dates. If there is interest in a specific course or courses at another time this is also possible. These will take place online via Zoom and in-person at the Prague Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, Prague Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, in Prague, Czech Republic. Courses need at least 3 people and will be closed when they reach 6.
Spring Semester in Psychoanalytic Studies 2021.
Foundation in Psychoanalysis – January 9-10 (12 hours). Join the Facebook event.
Psychoanalysis and Film – February 27-28 (12 hours). Join the Facebook event.
Clinical Psychoanalysis – March 27-28 (12 hours).
Psychoanalysis of Art – April 18th and 25th (12 hours). Join the Facebook event.
Neuropsychoanalysis – May 8-9 (12 hours).
Autumn Semester in Psychoanalytic Studies 2021
Foundation in Psychoanalysis – September 4-5 (12 hours).
Psychoanalytic Social Theory – October 2-3 (12 hours).
Climate Psychology and Ecopsychoanalysis – November 6-7 (12 hours)
Psychoanalysis Online – November 27-28 (12 hours)
Publication Possibilities
The Prague Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies will soon begin an online journal and students who successfully complete courses are encouraged to submit their papers for consideration for publication in each of the areas below.
Cultural Experience and Accommodation
For those not from Prague, the two-day weekend courses can also include a cultural programme (such as concerts, art galleries, and films) integrated into the learning material, depending on time of year. This is an optional extra.
Price
The cost of each 12-hour weekend course is 370 Euros (£340, 10000 CZK, $440). If you sign up for a full specialisation course (two units) the price is 670 Euros (£610, 18000 CZK, $790) in total. If you sign up for a full three-course advanced psychoanalytic studies course at one time, the price is 930 Euros (£845, 25000 CZK, $1100). Group discounts are available for three of more people.
Course Structure
The taught courses are structured in three levels, and prospective students can choose from the courses below:
A. Foundation in Psychoanalysis
This is a prerequisite for all the remaining courses (1). Taken as a single two day weekend course.
B. Psychoanalytic Specialisations
Those who complete the foundation course can develop their understanding in specific areas of specialisation, including psychoanalytic applications to art (2), film (3), society (4), climate change (5), clinical practice (6) and neuroscience (7). For those who wish to take the specialisation class at the same time as the foundation, this can be arranged either over a single four-day course or over two separate weekends.
C. Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies
Those who complete the foundation course and two of the specialisation courses (B) in a given area, earn a certificate in Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies in one of three fields. For those who wish to complete the two specialisation classes and the foundation class at the same time, it can be arranged either as three separate weekends, or as a single one week course.
- Aesthetics – Psychoanalysis of Art, Psychoanalysis and Film (1, 2, 3).
- Social Theory – Psychoanalytic Society Theory, Climate Psychology (1, 4, 5).
- Clinical – Clinical Psychoanalysis, Neuropsychoanalysis (1, 6, 7).
Course List
1. Foundation in Psychoanalysis: theoretical, clinical, and applied
This course provides an introduction to the key theoretical concepts of psychoanalysis, from Freud to Jung and Object Relations, and their application to several domains, including clinical practice, art, society and neuroscience. This course is compulsory for those wishing to take other courses at PCPS, and is designed for psychologists, psychotherapists and those from other disciplines wishing to get a firm grounding in psychoanalytic thought. Day one is focused on introducing key theories in psychoanalysis, day two looks at a range of applications of these ideas.
Prerequisites: None. This course is the main prerequisite of all other courses.
Length of study: 12 hours of taught time (plus readings and assignments), taken as a two-day course over a weekend
2. Psychoanalysis of Art
For those who complete the foundation course we can go deeper into psychoanalytic approaches to aesthetics and art, including the aesthetic experience, the creative process, studies of painting, literature, fairy tales, music and film, and also an introduction to the contemporary clinical practice of art therapy.
Prerequisites: Foundation in Psychoanalysis.
Length of study: 12 hours of taught time (plus readings and assignments), taken as a two-day course over a weekend.
3. Psychoanalysis and Film
This course studies the psychology of cinema from a psychoanalytic perspective and in addition explores what we can learn about the mind, culture and society through the movies.
Prerequisites: Foundation in Psychoanalysis.
Recommended: Psychoanalysis of Art
Length of study: 12 hours of taught time (plus readings and assignments), taken as a two-day course over a weekend.
4. Psychoanalytic Social Theory
What is the relation between psyche and society? What is the link between the individual mind studied by psychoanalysis and our social and historical worlds? A range of psychoanalytic approaches to society and history will be studied and explored, including a focus on for example racism, the internet, holocaust, the economic crisis, the witch trials of the Early Modern era and the psycho-social dimensions of climate change.
Prerequisites: Foundation in Psychoanalysis.
Length of study: 12 hours of taught time (plus readings and assignments), taken as a two-day course over a weekend.
5. Climate Psychology and Ecopsychoanalysis
The course studies the relationship between mind and nature from a variety of psychological perspectives to understand the environmental crisis, from climate change to COVID-19, our relationship to nature and the nonhuman world, and the difficulties of psychological and social change. We shall apply a range of psychological methods and theories to the problem, including psychoanalytic, cognitive, ecopsychological, the nonlinear sciences of complexity and chaos, as well as philosophical approaches (from deep ecology to the geophilosophy of Deleuze and Guattari), together with new clinical applications from ecotherapy, and the newly developed Climate Psychology Alliance, helping to contribute towards a critical dialogue between psychology and ecology.
Prerequisites: Foundation in Psychoanalysis.
Recommended: Psychoanalytic Social Theory
Length of study: 12 hours of taught time (plus readings and assignments), taken as a two-day course over a weekend.
6. Clinical Psychoanalysis
The course focuses on psychoanalysis in clinical practice. It is not a stand-alone clinical training but is for psychologists and psychotherapists already in clinical practice to learn more about a range of different clinical traditions, theories and methods in psychoanalysis, including more recently developed focused techniques, and how it can deepen their clinical practice. For those wishing to go deeper, information on how to apply for a clinical training at a psychoanalytic institute will be provided, as well as focused training in areas such as Transference Focused Psychotherapy and Mentalisation Based Therapy. Those taking this course should be prepared to bring clinical material from their own practice for supervision and analysis in the group. The course is lead by a psychoanalyst (IPA).
Prerequisites: Foundation in Psychoanalysis.
Length of study: 12 hours of taught time (plus readings and assignments), taken as a two-day course over a weekend.
7. Neuropsychoanalysis
This course introduces the rapidly developing new interdisciplinary research field of neuropsychoanalysis, combing research from cognitive and affective neuroscience, developmental, experimental and evolutionary psychology, psychoanalysis, psychiatry and attachment research, helping to bridge the gap between biological and psychological perspectives. The course will present the findings and methodologies of state-of-the-art research on topics such as emotion, consciousness, the unconscious, love and attachment, dreams, memory and psychopathology, and introduces a fresh approach to the ancient problem of the relation between mind and brain. Those who complete the course can become members of the Prague Neuropsychoanalysis Group and are further encouraged to become members of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Association.
Prerequisites: Foundation in Psychoanalysis.
Length of study: 12 hours of taught time (plus readings and assignments), taken as a two-day course over a weekend.