ABSTRACT

Shanghai Mental Health Centre (SMHC) is relatively active in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, there are few psychiatrists involved. Most psychiatrists stay out of this field, or are even against this practice in hospitals. Every year, SMHC receives about twenty psychiatrists, or general physicians with a mental health orientation to study psychotherapy. This is a programme supported by the Chinese Psychiatric Association. The training takes about five months and it includes theory learning, and internship in the psychosomatic disorders ward, along with supervision. This training may be the best way for young psychiatrists to step into the field of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, yet there is a lot of room for improvement. Young psychiatrists have even fewer opportunities to practise authentic psychotherapy. Without doubt, the Sino-German programme has been contributing greatly to the training of Chinese psychiatrists in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.