The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis

Date: Sep 13 2008
Major: Psychology (This Major's Salary over time)
I marked my comment neutral because I'm writing to add some levity to some of the other comments posted. I'm a current student at BGSP and chose to return even though very disappointed in the program. This is why. (Negative first, followed by positive.)

The student body is pretty evenly divided between students who are there to learn psychoanalysis and those who clearly are there as a stand in to therapy. The school is small and needs money and these students are clearly there as a revenue resource for the school. I have to also assume that this is why some many children of faculty members are working at all levels of the organization as well as taking classes. This is part of what lends itself to a cult like atmosphere at the school.

In addition, faculty members will charge you as much as $100 for a requested office hours visit. They are therefore unaccessible. Because of the belief in psychoanalysis that you train rather than learn, academics is wholesale abandoned by many faculty. In my first meeting with the student association, the student running the even giggled that

no one does the readings, don't worry about it.

That proved to be pretty accurate. There are maybe 20% of the students at the school that saw in the program an opportunity to self-educate while attending a school where you are essentially given credit for showing up, and thus regardless of how much work you do, will receive the same credit as those who do nothing and show up to class to complain about their babysitting jobs, etc.

Professors are frequently less educated (in the traditional sense) than the students in their classes. Questions from the students are frequently met with blank stares. Papers are not returned, commented on or graded. Fellow students who would be better suited as patients often have near nervous breakdowns in class. Instructors are frequently dismissive of students questions on relevant subject matter , less I think because they are dismissive of varying viewpoints than because they're just not very academically minded or researched. They're easily stumped.

In the end, your grade will be the same as someone who showed up to class stoned, may or may not have been sleeping with the instructor (a common occurrence at the school), did no reading or papers and slept through class when not adding some irrelevant personal anecdote.

NOW THE POSITIVE

The marketing at the school has improved and better students are arriving. The school has reorganized their program to add a licensure component, effectively creating what is a psychotherapy program. This is very attractive to those of us interested in getting licensed and practicing with a bent towards psychoanalysis, but without joining the cult of modern-analysis. This alone makes BGSP the best choice for self-starters interested in practicing in the broader field.

The school is effectively divided into two factions within the faculty. One faction wants to bolster academics and one the fluffy, dreamy, cuckoo, emotional stuff. The academic faction is winning.

As of 2008 the student body is vastly improved (actual student to otherwise patient ratio). The instruction is improving as the "emotional," more traditional psychoanalytic crowd of instructors moves on or dies. Professors with PsyD's and PhD's are filling the ranks, otherwise filled with some people with some experience giving analysis, but no doctoral degrees, but are friends with some faculty member. This is a huge improvement. It remains to be seen if the grading will become more rigorous.

The academics that are emerging in the program are respectful (and often even inclusive) of all psychoanalytic schools, as well as physiological and psychological approaches. There are some renowned faculty members at this program who are open minded and have some amazing insight to offer. There are also some young, energetic, very well informed professors that are rising to prominence.

As for having otherwise-patience littering the classes, it is an interesting experience for the clinician in training. The random verbal attacks, hypersensitivity, crying in class, passive aggressive hostility, etc. turn out to be kind of a training for those in the program that will go on to practice and kind of like seeing actual cases of neurosis, hysteria, borderline, psychosis, right there in class. This is not effectively different from most other psych classes that I've looked at, audited or sat in on while looking at programs. People often get into this field to figure themselves out.

The difference between BGSP and other programs, is the accessiblity. If you want to go to school for this stuff, they don't turn you away. That is a good thing, I think. However, they then fail to hold students to any kind of a coherent academic standard (or any other kind) and thus the real benefit of this program is for those who are self-motivated and will do a considerable amount of learning beyond the classroom, with effective NO recognition or credit for this whatsoever from the school.

As the academic faction wins at BGSP and the school gains popularity with serious students, their very affordable tuition will naturally go up and admission requirements will tighten as space becomes a premium. But for now, the program offers a licensure track for self-starters that is as easy to get through as you want it to be, easy to get into and everyone gets passed. The latter is, of course, its own issue.