Socio-Psychoanalytic Training Program in Organizational Consultation and Executive Coaching

Laurence J. Gould, Ph.D., Director; Michael Moskowitz, Ph.D., Associate Director

Leaders, executives, administrators and consultants are increasingly called upon to help the organizations for which they work take up their roles in turbulent, rapidly changing and more fluid environments. They have considerably shorter time spans available for making changes and remaining adaptive. Yet efforts to transform and develop organizations often founder because of the failure to recognize and anticipate the human consequences of such changes. The results include high levels of anxiety, uncertainty, conflicts and resistances. Such widespread difficulties suggest just how important it is for those responsible for organizational leadership and management to have the requisite knowledge and understanding of the psychological and systemic processes in order to both manage changes, and to lead more wisely and effectively.

The Program is designed for

• Consultants, executives, managers and administrators who are in positions of authority and responsibility in their organizations;
• Psychoanalytically-oriented clinicians interested in doing organizational consultation and development work as an aspect of their professional practices.

The major aim of this Program is to provide in-depth learning opportunities which enhance and develop the capacity to understand the processes and forces - both internal and external - that determine the functioning of organizations, and apply this understanding in the domain of work.

The core curriculum encompasses the following topics:

• The ethics of organizational consultation.
• Basic psychoanalytic concepts and their application to work groups and organizations.
• Theories of organization and open systems.
• Group and organizational processes
• Organizational assessment and diagnosis.
• The consultative role and strategies of intervention.
• Leadership and leadership transition.
• The management of change and organizational transformation.
• Organizational design and structure
• The design of work.
• Developing human resources.
• Staff development.
• Management theory.
• Strategic planning.
• The dynamics of family businesses. Working with global enterprises and the cultural ...dimensions of organizational consultation.
• Forming strategic alliances, inter-organizational partnerships and mergers.
• The design and facilitation of organizational retreats and meetings.

Program Structure

The Program is two years long, begins with an all-day Orientation Workshop, and is comprised of four linked sets of activities:

• The Core Study Group

Meets every other week for approximately 20 sessions per year. During the first year the initial phase of the core Study Group will involve discussions of readings in the background and history of socio-psychoanalysis, and its basic theories, perspectives and methods. As participants begin their organizational observation and assessment projects, the Study Group will have a dual purpose: part of the time will be devoted to a discussion of the participants' cases, while a second part will continue ongoing discussions of readings in major subject areas. In the second year the format will remain much the same as participants engage in their organizational consultation projects. During both years approximately 25% of the Study Groups will be led by a member of the Associate Faculty who will present cases from their practices, review theoretical material and/or function as guest consultants as the participants' present their own assessment and consultation work.

• One-Day Workshops

Three to four selected, One-Day Workshops led by Associate Faculty will be held each year (on Saturdays from 9:00AM-5:00PM). The purposes of these Workshops are twofold. They will focus, in depth, on a particular subject area with an applied emphasis, usually beginning with a case presentation in the area, and they will introduce a particular methodology utilized in connection with a central aspect of the consultation.

• Organizational Observation and Assessment Project

Toward the middle of the first year participants, working in pairs, will undertake an organizational observation and assessment project. Their relationship with the client organization will be a "learning for learning" contract. In this connection they will function in the role of participant observers and learn to collect relevant information utilizing a variety of standard and nontraditional methods including: cross-sectional interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, "shadowing" staff, and the use of mental-mapping (a projective technique). The project will culminate in the production of an assessment report and a debriefing discussion with the head of the organization. What happens with the information, and how, and the extent to which it is shared with other members of the organization comprises an aspect of both the initial contract and the debriefing discussion.

Project Sites: Participants will be expected to obtain an appropriate site for the projects, making use of their own networks, The faculty will provide the necessary support and guidance for doing this, and opportunities to learn to use the tools and methods of assessment. Each pair will distribute a copy of their report to all participants, and have an opportunity to present their organizational assessment in class for discussion, comment, and feedback.

• Organizational Consultation Project

Under optimal circumstances, following the completion of the observation and assessment project, participants will undertake an organizational consultation project with the client organization. If, for whatever reason a consultation project does not evolve from the assessment, participant pairs will have the responsibility of generating a client for the project. The faculty will provide any necessary assistance, if required, in obtaining appropriate sites for the project. As with the observation and assessment project each pair will have several opportunities to present their work in class for discussion, comment and feedback. Some pairs, if they wish, may take on several consultation projects.

Resources

In addition to the opportunity of becoming a member of a vibrant intellectual community, IPTAR offers a number of valuable resources to all its program participants, including a scholarships, a comprehensive psychoanalytic library, and a vital candidates' organization.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are requested to fill out an application form, provide a resume, and two professional references. Materials must be received no later than June 15 for the program year beginning in September. Each applicant will be interviewed by the Program Director and a member of the IPTAR faculty.

Criteria for Admission

• A general interest in promoting constructive organizational change and transformation in whatever role one may have.
• An exposure to psychoanalysis either through formal or related training, the experience of psychoanalytic or psychoanalytically-informed treatment, and/or research in any field utilizing psychoanalytic concepts and theories.
• A prior or concurrent (during the first year) group relations training experience.
• The experience of taking up an organizational role such as supervisor, executive, manager, consultant, etc.
• The capacity to use and share one's internal experience as a means of understanding both the client organization and one's relatedness to it.
• The interpersonal competence to manage effective relationships with clients.

Please contact us for additional information and application materials.

For further detail about all of IPTAR's training programs, please click here to download the IPTAR Bulletin.