65.4 DEVELOPING A PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY COURSE CURRICULUM

Abstract

Currently, there is no standardized curriculum among training programs for teaching psychodynamic psychotherapy. In addition, the background and availability of faculty members who are able to lead courses on psychodynamic psychotherapy within a given program are varied and may change from year to year depending on faculty departure or hiring. The goals of this project were threefold: 1) research and highlight which psychodynamic topics are most important for child and adolescent psychiatry residents in training; 2) create a curriculum that can be taught over time even as faculty availability within an institution shifts; and 3) teach the course to residents and gather data on the outcomes in order to maintain a dynamic approach consistent with developments in the field. In collaboration with a mentor from the AACAP Psychodynamic Faculty Training and Mentorship Initiative (PFTMI), Laura Prager, MD, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, we developed an 8-week psychodynamic therapy course of 60-minute classes. Each week was divided roughly into three 20-minute segments: a didactic lecture on the topic for the week, review of the readings for the week, and an interactive activity. In order to select the weekly topics, a literature review of select historical and contemporary readings was conducted in order to elicit which topics were most prevalent. The residents were surveyed before and after each class to assess their level of familiarity with the concepts presented and the likelihood of their using psychodynamic psychotherapy with patients. Preclass assessment revealed that the residents were unfamiliar with psychodynamic topics and did not feel they would use these techniques with patients. Participation and engagement were high. Postclass assessment revealed increased confidence in understanding concepts and an increased likelihood that residents would employ psychodynamic therapy techniques in their treatment of children and adolescents. The strengths of the course included active engagement, strong attendance, and high satisfaction. The challenges were related to the COVID-19 pandemic that required changing the interactive activity to an online format, and unforeseen shifts in the department's academic schedule that precluded offering this course a second time.