William Alanson White Institute

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The William Alanson White Institute, founded in 1946, is an institution for training psychoanalysts and psychotherapists. It is located in New York City on the Upper West Side, in the Clara Thompson building.

The William Alanson White Institute (WAWI) historically has explored new territory in psychoanalytic theory and praxis, breaking away in protest in the middle of the last century from the mainstream of American psychoanalytic thought, which was experienced as constrictive by the psychoanalysts who founded the institute. WAWI encourages a tradition of innovation and pluralism. Many psychoanalytic thinkers coming out of the WAWI have introduced important concepts now accepted into the mainstream of contemporary psychoanalytic theory and praxis.

The founders of WAWI are Erich Fromm and Clara Thompson, joined by Harry Stack Sullivan, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, David Rioch and Janet Rioch. The William Alanson White Institute emphasizes psychoanalytic activism in relation to issues of importance in culture and society, and continues to address problems of living which are considered to be beyond the scope of classical psychoanalysis. WAWI is strongly influenced by the work of Sándor Ferenczi, a member of Freud's inner circle who pioneered the analyst's authentic use of himself in the consulting room, emphasizing the mutuality of the relationship between therapist and client.

WAWI offers several training programs, continuing education and affordable high-quality clinical services, including hosting conferences, lecture series, and symposia on an ongoing basis.