Welcome to the Psychoanalysis Unit at UCL

The Psychoanalysis Unit at UCL was established by the late Professor Joseph Sandler, the previous holder of the Freud Memorial Chair in Psychoanalysis. Professor Peter Fonagy, the current holder of the Chair, directs the unit.

• The mission of the Psychoanalysis Unit is to strengthen the links between psychoanalysis and other academic disciplines.

• The unit is principally involved in graduate training, and has over a dozen doctoral students. These students undertake work of a conceptual or theoretical nature, as well as empirical investigations of psychoanalytic outcome and constructs. The unit also runs an MSc in Theoretical Psychoanalytic Studies (with the British Psychoanalytical Society, BPAS), an MSc in Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology (with the Anna Freud Centre) and an MSc in Psychodynamic Developmental Neuroscience (in collaboration with the Anna Freud Centre and the Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, YCSC).

• The unit organises regular conferences, in which members of the profession address topical issues. The unit has strong links with the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA), and it organises the annual conference on psychoanalytic research, sponsored by the IPA.

• The unit also hosts the IPA Summer Research Training Programme, and its visiting academic staff includes Dr Robert Emde, Dr Otto Kernberg, Dr Horst Kächele, Dr Wilma Bucci and Dr Sidney Blatt. Click here to download full details of the 2009 Research Training Programme, including details of how to apply (pdf file).

• The unit has a number of important national and international affiliations, including the Anna Freud Centre, the Menninger Clinic and leading scholars at Yale and Harvard Universities.

This page last modified 22 June, 2009 by Jeremy Vooght