The British Psychoanalytical Society was founded by

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

as the London Psychoanalytical Society on 30 October 1913. It is one of several organisations in Britain training psychoanalysts. The society has been home to a number of psychoanalysts, including

Wilfred Bion Wilfred Ruprecht Bion (; 8 September 1897 – 8 November 1979) was an influential English psychoanalyst, who became president of the British Psychoanalytical Society from 1962 to 1965. Early life and military service Bion was born in Mathu ...

Donald Winnicott Donald Woods Winnicott (7 April 1896 – 25 January 1971) was an English paediatrician and psychoanalyst who was especially influential in the field of object relations theory and developmental psychology. He was a leading member of the Brit ...

Anna Freud Anna Freud CBE ( ; ; 3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father a ...

and

Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...

. Today it has over 400 members and is a member organisation of the

International Psychoanalytical Association The International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) is an association including 12,000 psychoanalysts as members and works with 70 constituent organizations. It was founded in 1910 by Sigmund Freud, from an idea proposed by Sándor Ferenczi. His ...

Establishment and name

Psychoanalysis was founded by

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

, and much of the early work on Psychoanalysis was carried out in Freud's home city of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and in central Europe. However, in the early 1900s Freud began to spread his theories throughout the English speaking world. Around this time, he established a relationship with

, a British neurosurgeon who had read his work in German and met Freud at the inaugural Psychoanalytical Congress in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. Jones went on to take up a teaching post at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, in which capacity he established the

American Psychoanalytic Association The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA) is an association of psychoanalysts in the United States. APsA serves as a scientific and professional organization with a focus on education, research, and membership development. APsA comprises 34 ...

When Jones returned to London, he established the society in 1913, as the London Psychoanalytical Society. The society had 9 founding members including William Mackenzie,

Maurice Nicoll Henry Maurice Dunlop Nicoll (19 July 1884 – 30 August 1953) was a Scottish neurologist, psychiatrist, author and noted Fourth Way esoteric teacher. He is best known for his ''Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspen ...

and

David Eder David Montague Eder (1 August 1865 – 30 March 1936) was a British psychoanalyst, physician, Zionist and writer of Lithuanian Jewish descent. He was best known for advancing psychoanalytic studies in Great Britain. Education and medical traini ...

. Almost immediately, the society was caught up in the international controversy between

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

and

. Many of the society's membership were followers of Jung's theories, although Jones himself enjoyed a close relationship with

Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...

and wished for the society to be unambiguously Freudian. Jones had joined Freud's Inner circle in 1912, and helped to oust Jung from the

. However, the outbreak of

World War One World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

in 1914 meant that the nascent society, which depended heavily on correspondence with psychoanalysts in

, then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, had to be suspended. There were a few informal meetings during the war, but these became less and less frequent as the war went on. In 1919, Ernest Jones re-founded the society as the British Psychoanalytical Society, and served as its president. He took the opportunity to define the society as

Freudian Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...

in nature, and removed most of the

Jungian Analytical psychology (, sometimes translated as analytic psychology; also Jungian analysis) is a term referring to the psychological practices of Carl Jung. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories as their s ...

members. With the help of John Rickman, the society established a clinic and a training arm, known as the Institute of Psychoanalysis.

Interwar years

In the 1920s, Ernest Jones and the society grew increasingly under the influence of

. Jones was inspired by her writings to develop several of his own psychoanalytical concepts. In 1925, Klein delivered a series of talks at the society on her theories. Klein's work was well received in London, but it attracted increasing controversy on the continent, where the majority of psychoanalysts were still based. Realising that her ideas were not warmly received at the

Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute The Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute (, BPI; later the Göring Institute (''Göring-Institut'') and Karl Abraham Institute (''Karl-Abraham-Institut'')) was founded in 1920 to further the science of psychoanalysis in Berlin. Its founding members incl ...

, where Klein was based, Jones invited her to move to London, which she did later in 1925. The rise of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

in Germany and later in Austria, led to increasing numbers of German and Austrian Psychoanalysts fleeing to London, where they joined the burgeoning society. By 1937, 13 out of 71 members were refugees from Europe.

personally intervened to bring

and his daughter,

, to London. In 1938, Sigmund Freud wrote to Jones:

''"The events of recent years have made London the principal site and center of the psychoanalytical movement. May the society carry out the functions thus falling to it in the most brilliant manner."''

By the start of the second world war, 34 out of 90 members were emigres from the continent. Among them were: However, the assimilation of so many prominent Psychoanalysts from continental Europe created tensions. The huge difference in the approaches of

and

led to the development of several factions. Increasingly, presentations of papers at the society became thinly veiled attacks on opposing factions theories. For example, in March 1937 Melitta Schmideberg (Klein's daughter) presented her paper: "After the Analysis – Some Phantasies of Patients", which viciously attacked almost all of Klein's ideas, though it did not mention her by name. The views of the different Psychoanalysts: Kleinian, Freudian, and those who were not affiliated with either, led to increasing dysfunction, and things became so bad that a specific committee had to be established to deal with the problem.

The 'controversial discussions'

By 1942, relations between the factions within the society had become so heated that a committee had to be convened to facilitate monthly discussions on the scientific nature of the society. The committee was chaired by three members of the society, each representing one of the major factions: *

James Strachey James Beaumont Strachey (; 26 September 1887, London25 April 1967, High Wycombe) of the Strachey family was a British psychoanalyst, and, with his wife Alix, translator of Sigmund Freud into English. He is perhaps best known as the general ed ...

– a member of the British Independent Group. * Marjorie Brierley – an ally of

. * Edward Glover – who identified as 'pure Freudian', in opposition to

. Glover resigned from the society in 1944, along with several other Freudian psychoanalysts. After heated debate, the committee resolved to a "gentleman's agreement" – which ensured that each faction would have equal representation within all committees within the society. It was also agreed that training of future psychoanalysts at the institute would be organised into two pathways: one Kleinian, and one Freudian.

After World War Two

With the resolution of the controversial discussions, the society became dominated by independent psychoanalysts such as

Michael Balint Michael Balint ( ; 3 December 1896 – 31 December 1970) was a Hungarian psychoanalyst who spent most of his adult life in England. He was a proponent of the object relations school. Life Balint was born Mihály Mór Bergsmann in Budapes ...

Prominent members of the society and Institute

File:Sir Leslie Mackenzie.jpg, William Leslie Mackenzie, a founding member of the Society. File:Paula Heimann.jpg,

Paula Heimann Paula Heimann (née Klatzko; 2 February 1899 – 22 October 1982) was a German psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, who established the phenomenon of countertransference as an important tool of psychoanalytic treatment. Life in Germany Born in ...

File:Eva-Rosenfeld.jpg,

Eva Rosenfeld Eva Marie Rosenfeld (5 January 1892 – 17 August 1977) was a Jewish-German-British psychoanalyst, an analysand of Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein. Although born in New York City, Eva Rosenfeld spent her youth in Berlin where her father Theodor Ro ...

File:Melanie Klein 1957.jpg,

File:WRBion.jpg,

Prominent members of the Society include: *

– A member from 1950. * Marjorie Brierley – A member from 1930 until her death. *

* Rose Edgcumbe *

Ronald Fairbairn William Ronald Dodds Fairbairn (; 11 August 1889 – 31 December 1964) was a Scottish psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and a central figure in the development of the object relations theory of psychoanalysis. He was generally known and referred to a ...

* André Green * Stephen Grosz * Betty Joseph *

– A member for over 30 years. * William Leslie Mackenzie *

Tom Main Thomas Forrest Main (1911–1990) was a psychiatry, psychiatrist and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst who coined the term 'therapeutic community'. He is particularly remembered for his often cited paper, ''The Ailment'' (1957). Life Thomas Main ...

Donald Meltzer Donald Meltzer (1922–2004) was a Kleinian psychoanalyst whose teaching made him influential in many countries. He became known for making clinical headway with difficult childhood conditions such as autism, and also for his theoretical innovat ...

– A member from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s *

Lionel Penrose Lionel Sharples Penrose, FRS (11 June 1898 – 12 May 1972) was an English psychiatrist, medical geneticist, paediatrician, mathematician and chess theorist, who carried out pioneering work on the genetics Genetics is the study of ...

* Rosine Perelberg * John Rickman *

Joan Riviere Joan Hodgson Riviere ( Verrall; 28 June 1883 – 20 May 1962) was a British psychoanalyst, who was both an early translator of Freud into English and an influential writer on her own account. Life and career Riviere was born Joan Hodgson Verral ...

Charles Rycroft Charles Frederick Rycroft (; 9 September 1914 – 24 May 1998) was a British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He studied medicine at University College London, and worked briefly as a psychiatrist for the Maudsley Hospital. For most of his caree ...

* Ella Sharpe – Became a member in 1921. *

– President of the society twice: 1954–56 and 1963–65.

The society today

Through its related bodies, the Institute of Psychoanalysis and the London Clinic of Psychoanalysis, it is involved in the teaching, development, and practice of

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...

at its headquarters at Byron House, west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is a constituent organisation of the

and a member institution of the

British Psychoanalytic Council The British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) is a UK-wide umbrella association of training institutions and professional bodies providing psychotherapy services to the public, mainly in the private sector. As implied in the title their therapeuti ...

References

External links

The British Psychoanalytical Society

International Psychoanalytical Association

British Psychoanalytic Council
* * {{Authority control 1913 establishments in England Freudian psychology History of mental health in the United Kingdom Psychology organisations based in the United Kingdom Medical and health organisations based in England Scientific organizations established in 1913