The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Psychology (This Major's Salary over time)
On the whole, my six year experience in the BGSP Master's Program has been an EXTREMELY POSITIVE ONE!

I was in it far longer then planned (and far longer then it usually takes) owing to circumstances and issues in my own life. It was not because of any limitations in the program. Assuming one has no major impediments in their own life, one can normally complete all academic and clinical work in somewhere between 2 and 3 years depending on one’s course load. All of the potential (and avoidable) delays can be avoided by getting one's Fieldwork Placement lined-up as soon as possible and by determining one's Master’s Thesis / Master's Paper topic as soon as possible. Not having to work whilst researching and writing the Master’s Thesis / Master's Paper will GREATLY accelerate how fast it can be researched, written, edited, and completed. I also recommended choosing from the most highly-placed and experienced Faculty Members for one’s Thesis Advisor and going with their recommendations for potential Readers as it will save time and effort for all concerned. Make sure to keep photocopies of EVERY SINGLE DOCUMENT that you hand in to either your teachers or the administration and also do not hesitate for one second to change your Thesis Team if it isn’t fair, efficient, and constructive.

Through my involvement in my classes, my clinical work, and my personal psychoanalytic therapy, I was able to become a far more compassionate, kind, healthy, and happy human being in myself, in my relationships, and towards the world. I learned the reasons why it is important for people to have the ability to constructively access, feel, and express all their emotions and the price that they and their minds, bodies, relationships, families, communities, and societies will pay if they do not. BGSP improved my life—indeed it gave me life—in so many wonderful ways.

If I had it to do all over again, I would make the same choice over and over and over again. I would even venture to say that attending this school should be mandatory no matter what one’s career, relationship, or life plans. It really is that important and it’s better to do it when one is still young and has not yet gone too far in either their professional and personal life because then there’s still time to build a healthy and solid foundation that will serve one well no matter where they may wind up. I guarantee that the education, treatment, and training offered at this school can and will increase your odds for success in terms of relationships, career, long-term health, and happiness as far as they possibly can be increased.

In terms of scheduling and cost, the school is an academic, emotional, and financial bargain because you can actually cover all of your tuition and analytic expenses with a full Federal Stafford Loan and even have a little bit for living expenses (Not enough to live on, but it helps!). You also still have most of the week or weekend free for working. Considering that most graduate programs suck-up all the Federal Money and have such unreasonable schedules for working adults, BGSP makes learning, working, and staying alive while you do it VERY POSSIBLE.

At the present time, the school is beginning to align its curriculum with the requirements for the LMHC Licensing Requirements which is a good and very important move toward making the Master’s Degree more marketable. The degree is officially an Academic Degree, but as anyone who has completed it can attest, we actually get training that exceeds all of the other clinical programs out there, even many of those that are at the Doctoral Level.

BGSP, like all established and expanding schools has some challenges it needs to attend to. Because of the far-reaching effectiveness of both Modern Psychoanalytic Theory and Treatment, both the school and the discipline have not needed to explore the work of others as much as either probably should have just to stay well-versed on current trends. The program also needs to be structured to include greater diversity and representation of all of the major perspectives in Psychoanalysis, Social Work, Human Services, and Education. Also needing to be included should be more material from Evolutionary Biopsychology, Anthropology, Sociology, and Economics because they all inform the work of the discipline even further. A move in these directions has been happening through their recently created ISV Doctoral Program.

Most of the faculty are very helpful and open-minded to new ideas and do make an effort to stay abreast of extra-disciplinary developments. All that being said, there are a very few faculty and administrators who one might term Modern Psychoanalytic Dogmatists and who, in their capacities as Educators, Clinicians, and Administrators, are not as open-minded or inclusive as they should be of either dissent or new ideas.

One part of the problem may be that extensive successful clinical work (with a middle and upper-class client demographic) has lead to some of them losing sight of the fact that sexism, racism, homophobia, ageism, abuse, pain, poverty, and suffering can also happen independently of people’s self-destructive drives and internal assembly of external reality. Another part of the problem may be that the role one functions in as Psychoanalyst and then the role that one functions in as an Educator, Administrator, and Policymaker should not be one and the same. The last major part of the problem may be that BGSP’s student demographics have shifted from being exclusively established middle-aged and mid-career professionals to include many people who are young and at the beginning of their career.

I believe that the administration, the faculty, and the school are still trying to navigate and make sense of that transition, how best to meet those demands, and the structure of the administration is still in the process of being perfected. BGSP, as they say (and despite a few areas that needs to be worked on) really is all that and a bag of chips!