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Psychoanalyst Job Description

What does a Psychoanalyst do?

A Psychoanalyst is a trained mental health professional who employs the psychoanalytic method to explore and understand their patients’ unconscious thoughts and underlying emotional conflicts. They commonly work with patients who may have a variety of mental health issues, such as anxiety or depressive disorders, and aim to help them identify and address the root cause of their problems. Psychoanalysts typically conduct one-on-one therapy sessions with their patients, during which they encourage them to discuss their dreams, memories and experiences in a safe and non-judgmental environment. Through this process, psychoanalysts hope to help their patients achieve greater self-awareness and promote positive changes in their lives.

Our Psychoanalyst job description includes the Psychoanalyst responsibilities, duties, skills, education, qualifications, and experience.

Psychoanalyst Example


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If you need an example job description for a Psychoanalyst download the one below, alternatively we have many other Healthcare job description samples and a job description library with over 3000 job descriptions templates that you can download for free.

What does a Psychoanalyst do?

A Psychoanalyst is a mental health professional who uses psychoanalytic theory to understand the behaviour of their clients. They provide psychological therapies to individuals, couples and families and help them to identify and explore unconscious patterns which may be influencing their behaviour. The aim of psychoanalytic therapy is to reduce psychological distress, to improve self-awareness and to help clients to make changes in their behaviour. Psychoanalysts employ a range of techniques, including free association, dream analysis, and interpretation of transference and counter-transference.

Psychoanalyst Role Purpose

The purpose of a psychoanalyst is to help people explore their unconscious thoughts, feelings and behaviours in order to gain insight, work through psychological difficulties, and achieve greater self-awareness. Through the use of psychoanalytic techniques such as dream interpretation and free association, the psychoanalyst will provide a safe, non-judgmental environment in which the patient can explore their inner world and gain insight and understanding of their issues.

Psychoanalyst Role

A Psychoanalyst is a mental health professional who specialises in psychological therapies to help patients understand and manage their emotions, thoughts and behaviour. They use techniques such as psychotherapy and psychoanalysis to help individuals explore how unconscious conflicts may be affecting their daily lives.

Psychoanalyst Duties

  • Provide psychotherapeutic treatment and counselling to patients
  • Assess and evaluate the mental health of patients
  • Assess any underlying psychological issues
  • Develop strategies to help patients manage their mental health
  • Listen to and understand patient’s problems
  • Work in partnership with medical professionals and other health professionals
  • Provide crisis intervention and support
  • Keep detailed records of patient’s treatment
  • Provide guidance to patients and their families

Psychoanalyst Requirements

  • A postgraduate qualification in psychoanalysis
  • Demonstrated knowledge and experience of psychoanalytic theory and practice
  • Experience of working with a range of clinical issues
  • Ability to analyse case material

Psychoanalyst Skills

  • Strong interpersonal skills
  • Ability to provide insight and understanding
  • Analytical and problem-solving abilities
  • Ability to remain objective and non-judgemental
  • Excellent communication skills

Psychoanalyst Personal Traits

  • Empathy
  • Good communication skills
  • Patience
  • Understanding
  • Analytical thinking

How to write a Psychoanalyst Job Advert

Use our job advert template to write a job advert for posting on job sites and job boards. Our job advertising templates are carefully created to help you reach your audience and beat the competition to the best talent.

A job description informs the reader about a job, whereas a job advert’s main objective is to sell the job opportunity to attract as many suitable applicants possible. A job advert maybe the first touch-point a candidate has with your company so it is important to create a great impression.

Job Advertisements should enticing, so considering using short, exciting language which get the reader’s attention.

How to write a Psychoanalyst Job Description

To write a job description, we recommend starting with a job description template from our job description library, which contains examples for 800+ positions and professions. Our job description examples include a job summary with duties and responsibilities and skills and requirements, which can be personalised for your job vacancy.

Job Description Advice - Guidance on How to Personalise a Psychoanalyst Job Specification

The hiring process and recruiting new employees to fill your key roles requires a degree of personalisation if you are to attract the best employees in a competitive employment market. The right person for a crucial role or more senior roles will likely have other employers targeting them. As your job description will be the first point of contact, you need to nail your pitch and provide the best possible service.

Job Description Tips - Help on formatting a Psychoanalyst Job Specification

When creating your bespoke description and advert, you should cover and promote these points:

Job title: This should accurately reflect the role and include keywords that top talent might be using to search for jobs.

Job duties: The day to day duties, such as administrative tasks, which vary depending on the company and inform the candidate if they can complete the role.

Technical skills: These are the hard skills required through training, such as proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Soft skills: These include the interpersonal skills and general abilities the right candidates will possess. For example, the competency to prioritise multiple tasks, handle customer queries and customer complaints, work alone, or build a good relationship with coworkers.

The company's culture: Highlighting your company culture and values ensures employees thrive and find outstanding job satisfaction. Candidates that are not the right fit won’t waste their time completing the application process, meaning you can focus on qualified individuals and hire in a more timely manner.

Career progression: Including the career path will entice candidates looking for career growth. 

Training and development programs: Smaller companies may need employees with previous experience or provide educational assistance over internal training offered by larger organisations with more significant resources. 

Employee benefits: Compensation and benefits often fail to appear in job ads and while you may want to hold your cards close to your chest, failing to include them is a mistake. Consider answering common questions, such as working hours and paid leave. Researching the average salary for the role in these early stages will ensure you don’t waste your interviewer’s and the candidate’s time.

Skill gaps: Your company may need to bring in new skills beyond those required to complete the key role and duties. Thinking on an organisational level can be beneficial when contemplating skills diversity.

Legal requirements: Ensure your job advert and description does not ask for inappropriate or discriminatory personal details, such as age, marital status, or religion.

How to Hire a Psychoanalyst

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