The Affective Model for Teaching and Learning psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis

In response to criticism of existing methods in psychoanalytic education the authors present the Affective Learning Model, an experimental method for the teaching and learning of psychoanalytic theory and its clinical application to both psychoanalysis and analytic psychotherapy, using multi-channel teaching, process and review in group settings, and learning from experience. The design of the model rests on theories of psychoanalytic object relations, group analysis, affect regulation, neural development, chaos theory, and link and field theory. The authors give examples of concepts being taught, demonstrated, and validated in the affective learning group experience. Alternative models are difficult to devise and implement in traditional institutes, and so this form of education takes place in an open system institution that is informed, but not constrained, by International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) standards for certification of analysts. Designed to fit the educational aim of teaching object relations theory, the Affective Learning Model is now presented, critiqued, and reviewed for consideration of its applicability in traditional psychoanalytic institutes.