British Psychoanalytic Association

25/08/2026

What would Sigmund Freud have made of the contemporary concept of neurodiversity and the diagnostic debates around it?

Watch this lecture by psychoanalyst Darian Leader here:

LIII. Sigmund Freud Lecture by Darian Leader on the occasion of Sig...

21/08/2026

In this episode of New Books in Psychoanalysis, Barbara Holifield discusses her book Being with the Body in Depth Psychology: Development, Trauma, and Transformation in the Unspoken Realm.

Holifield explores how bodily experience can provide a pathway into aspects of emotional life that have not yet been formulated in words. Drawing on depth psychology, relational psychoanalysis, infant research, neuroscience and trauma studies, she considers how attending to sensation, movement and the bodily-felt sense can deepen our understanding of experience.

Listen to the episode here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/being-with-the-body-in-depth-psychology

15/08/2026

“How do we continue doing this work when the socio-political realities are unimaginable? I’ve been living in Paris the last few years, and I continue to have a full caseload in Tehran and other cities. There was a time that the internet was cut off for our Iranian patients, so there is reality, and then there is a reality that actually affects the frame – they couldn’t contact their analyst. But in the middle of all of these things, something very interesting came up, which is, some patients, as soon as there was the possibility of contacting me, they would find a way. There were other things that came up in the supervisions I was doing, particularly if the analysts were outside of Iran and the patients were in Iran. For example, one thing that came up in the supervision was that the analyst would write to the patient all the time, saying, “Are you safe? Are you okay?” That’s not something I chose to do. When we discussed this and reflected upon this in the supervisions I felt like the analysts were feeling quite guilty for feeling that they are in a safe place and the patients weren’t, or they were at times terrified of the aggression that could be awaiting them in the session. It was in a sense like a little bit of an acting out on the part of the analyst.”

Listen to this podcast episode:

“How do we continue doing this work when the socio-political realities are unimaginable? I’ve been living in Paris the last few years, and I continue to have a full caseload in Tehran and other cities. There was a time that the internet was cut off for our Iranian patients, so there is reality, ...

13/08/2026

Become part of the scientific life of the BPA! Our Professional Visitor Programme offers qualified psychoanalytic and psychodynamic clinicians the opportunity to attend scientific meetings, join monthly seminars, and take part in lectures and the BPA Summer Study Day throughout the academic year.

Find out more and apply: https://www.psychoanalysis-bpa.org/events/bpa-professional-visitor-programme/

11/08/2026

In this thought-provoking talk, psychoanalyst and writer Adam Phillips explores the affinity and perhaps also tension between psychoanalysis and philosophical tradition of American pragmatism:

This talk took place on April 10, 2026, and was organized by the Pr...

04/08/2026

Join us for our next event in the Poetic Mind series, Bridging Time 1944–2024: Letters to My Father, online on Monday 14 September.

Artist, writer and psychoanalytic psychotherapist Patricia Townsend will explore how a bundle of letters written by her father during the Second World War became the starting point for a dialogue across generations. Through poetry, art and historical research, she reflects on memory, loss and the enduring relationship between past and present.

The event will include a discussion with psychoanalyst David Black and will be chaired by psychoanalyst David Morgan.

Book your ticket here:

Bridging Time 1944-2024 Letters to My Father By Patricia Townsend Discussant David Black Chair David Morgan Monday 14th September 2026 8-9.30pm Online only This book is an artist-writer’s epistolary memoir, built from her father’s Second World War letters. Patricia Townsend is a London-based art...

31/07/2026

'My Journey from Veterinary Medicine to Psychoanalysis with Michele Gaspar':

“I have always been fascinated by the world of animals. What fascinated me about them is that when you pay attention to animals, this is a world beyond words. Words are not part of their world, so you start paying attention to movement, to breath, to reaction, to the pause, all these things, and I found it fascinating… Certainly, in veterinary medicine, as any type of clinical medical practice, if a patient comes to you, there’s always things that you can do. You can take a blood sample, you can do a radiograph, you can give oxygen, you can give certain treatments. There’s always a solution that you can give, a fix. Psychoanalysis is very, very different. I haven’t successfully overcome the urge to fix, but I have come to realize that solutions that are given too early are oftentimes not usable. So, as a clinical veterinarian, most of my solutions were usable. That’s not what happens in psychoanalysis.”

Listen to this podcast episode here:

“I have always been fascinated by the world of animals. What fascinated me about them is that when you pay attention to animals, this is a world beyond words. Words are not part of their world, so you start paying attention to movement, to breath, to reaction, to the pause, all these things, and I...

24/07/2026

In this podcast episode, psychoanalyst M. Guy Thompson discusses his book 'Existential Psychoanalysis: A Contemporary Introduction'. The book draws on key theorists from both areas and expertly guides the reader on how to incorporate these two disciplines, which may appear disparate on the surface, into their clinical and theoretical work.

The conversation considers ideas including experience, authenticity, freedom, agency, psychic change and suffering, while drawing on thinkers including Sartre, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Freud, Winnicott, Bion, Laing and Lacan.

Listen here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/existential-psychoanalysis

22/07/2026

Looking for a way to deepen your engagement with psychoanalytic thinking and clinical practice?

The BPA Professional Visitor Programme is designed for qualified psychoanalytic and psychodynamic clinicians who would like to take part in the intellectual and scientific life of the Association.

The programme includes access to open scientific meetings, monthly online seminars, five Introductory Lectures and the BPA Summer Study Day, offering a valuable year of continuing professional development and discussion with colleagues.

Find out more and apply:

The BPA invites any member of one of the regulatory bodies, e.g. the British Psychoanalytic Council, the UKCP, the BACP to apply to become a Professional Visitor to the British Psychoanalytic Association. Our Professional Visitor Scheme allows for non-BPA members to become involved, to attend 5 Scie...

18/07/2026

Watch this recording of a fascinating conversation between world-renowned psychoanalyst Adam Phillips and acclaimed writer Lisa Appignanesi.

They dive into the heart of Phillips’ latest work, The Life You Want, exploring the gap between our imagined lives and our lived reality, the nature of desire, and the complexities of modern identity.

Watch here:

What does it mean to live the life you actually want?For the inau...