SDPSI has the following goals as a combined training institute and professional society:

1. To establish and maintain an accredited institution of learning in the field of psychoanalysis.
2. To provide training in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, in accordance with the standards for such training, as established by the American Psychoanalytic Association.
3. To promote research in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis.
4. To provide professional growth and collegial activities for its members.
5. To foster the dissemination of psychoanalytic knowledge and the integration of psychoanalysis with allied fields and professions.
6. To facilitate the availability of affordable psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy to the community.