INSTITUTE OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS

Established in 1924, the Institute of Psychoanalysis is the home of the British Psychoanalytic Society. Our activities include: the training of psychoanalysts, the development of the theory and practice of psychoanalysis, the provision of treatment through The London Clinic of Psychoanalysis, the publication of books and journals, furthering research, and the dissemination of psychoanalytic ideas through public lectures and events. The Society is a component of the International Psychoanalytical Association, a body with members on all five continents that safeguards professional and ethical practice. The Society is a member of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC); the BPC publishes a register of British psychoanalysts and psychoanalytical psychotherapists. All members of the British Psychoanalytical Society are required to undertake continuing professional development.

Through its work – and the work of its individual members – the British Psychoanalytical Society has made an unrivalled contribution to the understanding and treatment of mental illness. Psychoanalysis is the name given to the theory of mind developed originally by Sigmund Freud, a theory which has had and continues to have an enormous impact on culture and intellectual life. Although there has been considerable development in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis since Freud’s day, certain key ideas have retained their place and vitality within the theory. These include: the discovery that there are large aspects of our psychological functioning which, though having a profound determining effect upon us, are largely hidden, that is, they are unconscious; the recognition of the ubiquity of unconscious conflict; the understanding that when human beings become involved in relationships with others, they bring to those relationships ‘templates’ derived from early childhood situations and transfer them into the current situation, that is they form transferences; the recognition of the centrality of sexuality and aggression in mental life and that important aspects of this are laid down in childhood. Psychoanalysis has shown itself to have very broad relevance and finds a home in many diverse contexts including art, literature, philosophy, politics, sociology and film studies. It has made seminal contributions to the understanding of cultural phenomena such as group functioning, institutional process, and wider socio-cultural phenomena such as paranoia and racism. As a method of psychological help, psychoanalysis is based on the theory that early relationships with parents, childhood experiences of, love, loss, sexuality and death all lay down patterns in the mind which provide, as mentioned above, unconscious ‘templates’, which have enduring effects on psychological functioning and are the source of conflicts which can block development.