NCP Member-Only Blog > Research Psychoanalysts now registered by the Board of Psychology
Research Psychoanalysts now registered by the Board of Psychology
Dear Members,
As the NCP Board Member representing the Research Psychoanalysts, I want to report that as of Jan. 1, 2025, we are no longer registered with the Medical Board of California and are currently under the umbrella of the Board of Psychology. Since 1977, the Medical Board of California strongly supported our status as Research Psychoanalysts, recognizing our distinction in terms of interdisciplinary scholarship, publication of books and articles, high level post-doctoral teaching, service to the community, and unique ability to care for our patients with responsibility and rigor. Several of our members have served as chairs of committees, as deans, and as liaisons with the American Psychoanalytic Association: the current dean is a member of our cohort. One of our members has won the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, the so-called “genius award.” The Research Psychoanalyst program at NCP has been the nation’s most successful program in outreach to the university, in recruitment, and in holding a NCP sponsored conference annually at Lake Arrowhead.
As we are currently under the authority of the Board of Psychology, a majority of our members are concerned about us being swallowed up as Psychologists. We have written collectively and individually to the BOP that we want to be differentiated from Psychologists in terms of Continuing Education requirements, our scholarly backgrounds, and our commitment to and proficiency with research, theory, and interdisciplinary methodology. Above all, our identity as Research Psychoanalysts facilitates our ability to think psychoanalytically with our patients, students, supervisees, and engage in our research projects. There is strong objection to the limitation of time allocated to our patients; we have pointed out that the time available to academics is hard to quantify, and reminding the BOP that we can help meet the high demand in the community for highly qualified and well trained psychoanalytic clinicians.
We are awaiting the legal and regulatory changes impacting the Research Psychoanalysts by the BOP.
Respectfully submitted,
David James Fisher, Ph.D.
Research Analysts Committee Chair