The British Psychoanalytical Society was founded in 1913. With around 500 members, we are a UK wide and international community of professionals, dedicated to helping people enhance their lives through an intensive talking therapy, psychoanalysis. The Institute of Psychoanalysis is the outward face and training body of the British Psychoanalytical Society.

Our alumni include some of the most important figures in the history of psychoanalysis, including Michael Balint, Wilfred Bion, John Bowlby, Anna Freud, Melanie Klein , Joseph Sandler, Hannah Segal and Donald Winnicott. And we continue to have as members world renowned psychoanalysts at the forefront of psychoanalytic practice.

Some of our members were responsible for setting up and developing psychoanalytically informed centers of excellence in the National Health Services, such as the Tavistock Clinic, The Portman Clinic and the Maudsley Hospital where we continue to train, teach and supervise. Others hold leading roles within our main Universities.

Our members represent a diverse range of countries and cultures, and are able to provide psychoanalytic treatment in many different languages.

Through the Institute of Psychoanalysis, our training body, we aim for the highest standards of excellence. All our members go through a training process that is highly respected for its rigour, and recognised by the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA), most of our members are also registrants of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC).

We warmly welcome you to our many public events, lectures and conferences, so you can get a first hand insight into the work we do.