Through its Education Commission, the Institut psychanalytique de Montréal is responsible for the training program leading to the practice of psychoanalysis in compliance with internationally recognized standards. The program has three components: personal psychoanalysis, supervised cures, and seminars. The IPM’s mission is to teach psychoanalysis and transfer psychoanalytic knowledge.
The IPM is the French-language branch of the Canadian Institute of Psychoanalysis, which provides training recognized by the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA), founded by Sigmund Freud. Once they have completed their training, IPM graduates are eligible to apply for membership in the branch of their choice within the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society (CPS).
In 1970, the Canadian Institute of Psychoanalysis established similar sections: the French section or the Institut psychanalytique de Montréal (IPM); the English section in Quebec (CIPQE); and the Toronto section (TIP). The section in Vancouver was established in 2003. The IPM is the training institute of the Société psychanalytique de Montréal (SPM). The IPM is the place to go for anyone who wishes to become a psychoanalyst and undergo training in French. The transmission of psychoanalysis consists of three components: personalized psychoanalysis, supervised treatments and seminars. The prerequisite for any psychoanalytic training is personal psychoanalysis. To this end, the candidate arranges for treatment with an analyst listed in the SPM’s membership directory as “authorized to analyze candidates”. This list extends beyond the membership of the IPM, as the SPM considers that this practice should not be reserved exclusively for psychoanalysts who are members of the Institute. The process undertaken under these conditions remains a strictly private matter between the two individuals involved, since the chosen analyst does not subsequently intervene in any way in decisions concerning the training programme of an analyst-in-training.
The study of the fundamental texts of psychoanalysis and participation in theoretical and clinical seminars constitute, along with supervised treatments, the second and third components of the training. It is here that the distinction between the formal training programme (which culminates in election as a member of the SPM) and participation in the scientific life of our group becomes blurred. This is because the seminars bring together psychoanalysts regardless of their status (analysts-in-training, members of the SPM, authorized analysts, members of the IPM, etc). Among other functions, it is the responsibility of the Institute’s members to evaluate candidates for training and to supervise the treatments conducted by analysts-in-training.