Postgraduate work is any program or course that requires a bachelor's degree to participate in. You may have thought your college career was over once you got your first diploma. But there are thousands of different programs that you could focus on for postgraduate work, all of which could prepare you for an incredible and lucrative career. In some fields, it is almost required that you get an advanced degree in order to practice. One such field is that of psychoanalysis. Postgraduate psychoanalytic training programs give students the skills necessary to become certified psychoanalysts who are able to practice in the field.

While you may not be familiar with exactly what a psychoanalyst does, you have likely seen them in movies. Typically, psychoanalysis is portrayed by someone lying on a couch while they divulge their greatest secrets and deepest thoughts to their analyst. In reality, the couch is not necessary. Many people prefer to simply sit and talk with their analysts. These conversations lead to a lot of self-discovery and understanding, helping individuals to break cycles that they have been a part of for years, thereby finding self peace. 

As a student in a psychoanalytic training program, you will learn the following.

Transference

Listening to someone's hopes, fears, thoughts, feelings, interactions, and dreams can really give you an insight as to how they think. As an analyst, you will be trained on how to identify patterns in their thinking that may not be healthy or helpful to them. For example, if someone seems to constantly be thinking that they are not good enough and will ultimately fail at whatever they attempt, you may want to dive into where they lost all of their confidence. How your clients interact with the world is called transference.

Countertransference

Countertransference, on the other hand, are your thoughts (as the analyst) on their thoughts. Since you are offering suggestions and thoughts on their interactions in life, it is important to note that those thoughts did not stem from the client, though they are important and needed. 

In conclusion, psychoanalysis is so much more than just telling someone that things will be okay. It goes through someone's thought processes and helps them to analyze if how they are thinking is healthy and how they can change any negative patterns they find. This career is needed, and training in postgraduate psychoanalytic work could give you the tools to have an incredible career in the future.

For more information, contact a company like Post Grad Institue.

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