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Research Grants​​

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The China American Psychoanalytic Alliance is offering research grants in these areas:​

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1.   Research on distance training and treatment in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis

2.  Research on psychoanalytic psychotherapy in China

3.  Research on the application of psychoanalytic concepts to understanding Chinese society, child issues, or relationships.

 

CAPA has hundreds of Chinese students who are in psychodynamic psychotherapy or psychoanalysis and are available as participants or research partners for your research. 

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The China American Psychoanalytic Alliance (CAPA) Research Fund 2026–2027

Supporting innovative inquiry at the intersection of psychoanalysis, Chinese culture,

and emerging technology.

 

FUNDING OVERVIEW

CAPA Research Fund supports original research that advances psychoanalytic knowledge as both clinical method and complex theory of mind. Grants are awarded for direct research expenses only. Projects supported by CAPA this year include three Standard Grants

  • Standard Grants: USD $3,000 – $5,000

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PRIORITY RESEARCH DOMAINS

We invite proposals addressing one or more of the following areas:

  • AI, Digital Technology, and Psychoanalytic Practice

    • Teleanalysis, algorithmic assessment ethics, digital selfhood, and VR applications in trauma/dream work.

  • Socio-Cultural Transformation and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

    • Urbanization, individualization, and consumerism as shapers of symptom formation; cultural validity of classical concepts in contemporary China.

  • Cross-Cultural Maternal Interaction and Social Dynamics

    • Micro-processes of mother-infant interaction across cultures (e.g., intensive mothering, grandparent co-rearing); long-term impact on adult relational patterns and transference.

  • Clinical Psychoanalysis in Diverse Cultural Contexts

    • Cross-cultural applicability of core concepts; institutional challenges to depth work; somatization and culturally shaped symptoms especially as related to China.

  • Practice, Supervision, and Training in China

    • Professional identity, training standardization, power dynamics in supervision, theoretical pluralism, and accessibility of low-fee analysis.

 

ELIGIBILITY & REQUIREMENTS

  • Open to clinical, conceptual, applied, and interdisciplinary research.

  • Proposals may be submitted in English or Chinese.

  • IRB/ethics approval documentation (or proof of application) is required for human used in research.

  • Budgets must exclude general office equipment; travel costs require explicit research justification.

  • The study does not support animal experimentation.

 

TIMELINE (2026 CYCLE)

Application window opens: July 26, 2026

Deadline: October 26, 2026 

Results announced no later than December 26, 2026

 

TO APPLY

Submit your proposal (Brief Rationale, Research Plan, Budget, and CV) to:  

https://capa-forms.formstack.com/forms/capa_research_proposal

CAPA strongly encourages presentation of findings at CAPA research meetings; however, conference attendance is not a funding requirement, and travel is not covered by this Fund.

 

Zhengjia Ren, M.D.
Chair of the Research Committee and Fund Committee,
Chinese American Psychoanalytic Alliance (CAPA)

Robert M. Gordon, Ph.D.
Honorary Chair of the Research Committee and Fund Committee,
Chinese American Psychoanalytic Alliance (CAPA)

CAPA’s Research Grant Program has funded over 20 research publications.

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A Selection of Past Grants:

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Margarian, A. (2014): A cross-cultural study of somatic countertransference: a brief overview, Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, DOI: 10.1080/21507686.2014.894922  

 

Gordon, R.M., Wang, X. & Tune, J. (2015). Comparing Psychodynamic Teaching, Supervision and Psychotherapy Over Video-Conferencing Technology with Chinese Students.  Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 43 (4), 585-599. doi:10.1521/pdps.2015.43.4.585  

 

Gordon, R.M., Tune, J. & Wang, X. (2016). What are the characteristics and concerns of high and low raters of psychodynamic treatment to Chinese students over VCON? Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in China, 2, 86-96. 

 

Gordon, R.M., & Lan, J. (2017). Assessing Distance Training: How Well Does It Produce Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists? Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 45 (3), 329-341. doi:10.1521/pdps.2017.45.3.329  

 

Schwank, S. E., Gu, C., Cao, Z., Andersson, E., Jiang, H., Ding, Y., & Lindgren, H. (2018). China’s child policy shift and its impact on shanghai and Hangzhou women’s decision-making. International journal of women's health, 10, 639. 

 

Shi, Z., Zhao, W., Danping, W. U., Luan, F., Liu, H., Dong, J., ... & Zhao, X. (2018). A review of effects of disrupted primary caregiver infant relationship on brain development and psychopathology. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 32(2), 130-135. 

 

Schwank, S., Lindgren, H., Wickberg, B., Ding, Y., & Andersson, E. (2019). Perinatal mental health in China: views of health system professionals in Shanghai. Global Health Journal, 3(3), 73-78. 

 

Schwank, S. E., Andersson, E., Wickberg, B., Fu, S. C., Ding, Y., & Lindgren, H. (2020). Care-seeking behavior and disclosure on self-reported mental health among young women in urban Shanghai, China. Health psychology open, 7(1), 2055102919897382. 

  

Wang, X., Gordon, R.M. & Snyder, E.W. (2020). Comparing Chinese and US Practitioners’ Attitudes Towards Teletherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Asia Pacific Psychiatry,  DOI: 10.1111/appy.12440 

 

  Gordon, R.M., Shi, Z., Scharff, D.E., Fishkin, R.E., & Shelby, R.D. (2021).

International Survey of Psychoanalytic Practitioners’ Reactions to Teletherapy at the Beginning of the Pandemic and their Concept of Psychoanalytic Treatment.  Psychodynamic Psychiatry,  DOI: 10.1521/pdps.2021.49.3.453

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