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Accreditation Process - Overview

The Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education (ACPEinc) is committed to preserving diversity within its uniform system. The accreditation process demonstrates how a psychoanalytic education and training program implements the Standards in light of its distinctive theory and training tradition. Read the FAQ for answers to common questions.

Benefits of External Accreditation

  • Provides parity with colleagues in other academic and health care disciplines.
  • Accreditation by an independent external agency increases credibility of a program in eyes of public and government.
  • Supports development of common educational standards and guidelines – encourages conversation among diverse schools.

Sine Qua Non

As a prerequisite for accreditation, programs are REQUIRED to assure that the psychoanalysis of candidates and of the patients treated by candidates under supervision will be conducted at a frequency of three (3) to five (5) sessions per week, on separate days, for a minimum of forty (40) weeks during a year and for a minimum of three hundred (300) hours.

Accreditation Process

The ACPEinc is an autonomous agency that accredits psychoanalytic education and training programs. As a matter of policy it will extend accreditation only to programs that are authorized to provide an educational program by the State in which they are located. Programs must provide documentation demonstrating that they are authorized to operate in the state they are located. Programs must provide documentation that the institution or center in which they are embedded is authorized to operate in the State in which it is located.

Further, the ACPEinc will not, with no exception allowed, grant initial or renewal of accreditation to any program that is the subject of an action taken by a State agency or by another recognized accrediting agency. These actions include:

a. The suspension, revocation, withdrawal, or termination of an organization's legal authority to provide postsecondary education in the State.

b. A final decision by a recognized agency to deny, revoke, withdraw, suspend or terminate the accreditation of an organization by a recognized accrediting agency.

c. A final decision to place an organization on probation by a recognized accrediting agency.

The initial accreditation process has five parts:

  1. The Self Study - the program conducts an internal review. An ACPEinc Mentor is available for assistance and support.
  2. A review of Self Study application and supporting documents is performed by the ACPEinc's Standing Committee on Accreditation (SCA).
  3. On-site visit conducted by the ACPEinc team.
  4. Preliminary draft report sent to program for review, corrections and comments.
  5. Final report written by the ACPEinc with notification of approval and member listing on the ACPEinc.org web site.

Post-Accreditation Process

An accredited member program must file an annual report known as a Maintenance of Accreditation Survey (MOAS), and adhere to additional functional policies and procedures.

Get in-depth information about each step of the accreditation process:
REVIEW: Self Study Guide »