The two-year advanced training at The Psychotherapy Institute offered me an opportunity to grow more as a clinician as well as a human being. I learned a lot about myself along with my new profession. I trained with experts in the field and developed my own approach to clinical work and navigating the internal landscapes that are at times illuminated. I also appreciate the intention and capacity for TPI to reflect on itself, its own culture, training programs and the mental health services it offers to the community. There is a genuine commitment to raise awareness and increase accessibility to better reflect and serve the diverse community in which we live. I am grateful to continue my participation in the TPI community.

Alexis Rubin, LCSW (Class of 2004)

The years I spent training at TPI were among the richest and most stimulating of my life. The opportunity to be immersed in a world of conversation, collegiality, study and clinical practice was wonderful and TPI very quickly became the holding environment I needed to begin to formulate my identity as a psychotherapist. Among my favorite aspects of the program were the intensive supervision, the opportunity to work with a diverse client population, and the many opportunities to learn from fellow trainees in various small group settings. Two years post graduation, I still very much consider TPI to be my professional home. I feel very fortunate for the sense of community and membership in an organization which values psychotherapy with such purpose and integrity.

Donna Gans, MFT (Class of 2004)

I came to TPI with a mission—I wanted to build a private practice, learn marketing, and explore various theoretical orientations. But, what I got was much more—It’s hard to put into words what I was able to receive. Personally, I grew through my relationships with my amazing teachers, the supervisors. It was challenging for me to take in so much feedback, but what I gained was the ability to be more open, assert myself, and become a stronger person through the process. It is a profound experience to find a supportive community of colleagues who encouraged me and helped put me together through their compassion, wisdom, and love. TPI is my therapeutic home, a place and a community that has inspired me to learn and find my self-worth as a clinician.

Anita Vasa, MFT (Class of 2005)

I would like to emphasize that one of its strengths is TPI’s openness to change, particularly with regard to multicultural dialogue. As a member of minority groups-in terms of ethnicity and socioeconomic class- I felt free to talk about my training experiences, both good and bad, to all of my supervisors, administrative staff, and leaders of various groups. TPI allowed me to do therapy in a different language; I felt competent doing therapy in my own language and received appropriate supervision even though supervisors did not speak that language. Talking about multicultural issues through out my training enriched both my professional and personal life. At the Institute level, minority voices were heard and changes were adopted. Supervisors and TPI members in leadership positions addressed multicultural views-and without power struggles between staff therapists and administration.

Miwako Ishii, M.S. (Class of 2006)

The training at TPI was an initiation for me. I became a therapist there. All of the threads of my on-going development as a clinician have their roots in my experience at TPI. I found the program to have both breadth and depth. In the relationships with my many supervisors, my peers, in the exposure to so many different clinicians, in a curriculum well balanced between classical and contemporary theory and practical clinical training, I forged the foundations of my professional identity. In addition, I found myself welcomed and folded in as a permanent member of the rich and vital TPI community.

Scott Carollo, M.A. (Class of 2006)