In 1973, the San Diego Psychoanalytic Society was accredited by the American Psychoanalytic Association as one of thirty-one constituent societies. The Board on Professional Standards of the American Psychoanalytic Association granted full accreditation to the Institute, as a center to conduct psychoanalytic training, in December 1977.

The San Diego Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (SDPSI) is a nonprofit corporation and is accredited by the California Medical Association, the California Psychological Association, the Board of Behavioral Sciences, and the Board of Registered Nurses as an approved provider of continuing education credits.

 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.