James Stanislaw: “To start with, Annikki, one of the best aspects of my training was that it was part-time. I was able to work a full-time job and to train ten-twelve hours a week. And I would get involved and find lots of useful experiences here, and still be able to support myself and my family.”

Annikki Kurvi: “The same is true for me. I especially enjoyed that there were a few of us, varying from 5-10 at times, and I really enjoyed the ongoing, daily, step-by-step supervision. Especially because it was addressed very well..theoretical issues and counter-transference issues, and since there was a group of us, you got a lot of different views from everybody to reflect on your character.”

James Stanislaw: “I started my training ten years after my graduate degree. I found during that time that I had an ongoing kind of worry about if I was doing the right thing. That got so much better when I started in the training program.”

Annikki Kurvi: “In addition to that, I think that even while it was a very demanding program, there was so much support that it increased my self-confidence as a therapist. When my shortcomings came through clearly, either in my character or other counter-transference issues, there was always the sense that I could do it. That supportive atmosphere, along with the demands, didn’t leave me hanging in the air. There was a very solid sense that it was doable.”

James Stanislaw: “There was an apprenticeship aspect to the training program that we haven’t really mentioned yet which was invaluable. I was able to sit next to my teacher, sit next to patients and to not necessarily have the pressure to do anything except to learn and practice in that kind of environment. Overall, the training program that I was involved in here at the Institute for Individual and Group Psychotherapy was extremely useful in my becoming a thoughtful, serious therapist and part of a field that contributed to the greater good.”