Events, conferences and lectures for psychotherapists
A curated list of psychoanalytic and psychotherapy conferences, lectures and events from around the world. Vestibola gathers them; it does not organise them.
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Every listing is run by the organisation named on it. Follow the link on an event to book or to confirm the details with the organiser.
October 2026
This session explores the complex relationship between Freud and judaísmo, examining how this connection influenced the development of psychoanalysis. With Renato Mezan, it uses a specific candelabro, currently featured among the museum objects, as a starting point for discussion. It is designed for psychotherapists and practitioners interested in the cultural and historical roots of analytical theory.
This discussion forum invites members of the SEA to help shape the organisation's collective response to the PCPB consultation on conversion practices and GSRD good practice. Participants will review the draft definitions and principles together, sharing existential perspectives to help frame the official submission. It is designed for practitioners wanting to contribute to this professional consultation.
This seminar explores the initial stages of psychoanalytic therapy, focusing on how clinicians establish the framework, manage transference, and listen during preliminary consultations. Drawing on the technical papers of Freud, Christos Tombras will examine how these opening decisions influence the trajectory of the clinical work. The session is designed for practitioners wishing to deepen their understanding of starting a treatment.
This seminar explores Studies on Hysteria, the foundational text written by Freud and Josef Breuer. With Alistair Black, participants will examine the famous case of Anna O. alongside those of Emmy von N. and Elisabeth von R. The session investigates how hysterical symptoms relate to repressed memories and traces the transition from hypnosis to early psychoanalysis. It is designed for practitioners and students of psychotherapy.
This seminar explores the origins of creativity through a psychoanalytic lens, with speaker Vincent Dachy. The session examines whether creative impulses begin in childhood play, phantasy, or as a reaction to loss. Drawing on Freud's work on art and theories of sublimation, the talk investigates how psychoanalysis differentiates genuine creation from repetition. It is suitable for practitioners interested in the conditions required to generate something new.
A festschrift for Brett Kahr, marking his retirement after decades of teaching, writing and mentoring, and his long involvement with the Freud Museum London. Colleagues and collaborators gather for talks, conversation and music, closing with a reception. For anyone whose training or reading was shaped by his work, and for those who want to see a career in psychoanalysis marked properly.
This lecture series explores psychoanalytic perspectives on the connection between body and mind, drawing on the experiences of the 10 Windsor Walk Psychosomatics Workshop. Chaired by Kate Pugh and Simon Harrison, the sessions examine clinical approaches to soma and psyche. It is designed for psychoanalysts, psychologists, psychotherapists, doctors and health professionals wishing to deepen their understanding of how physical and mental states interact.
This course explores the emotional challenges of working with patients in psychiatric and forensic environments, focusing on how psychoanalytic ideas can help staff understand complex clinical relationships. It is designed for mental health practitioners, including nurses, psychologists and social workers. The sessions feature Marcus Evans in conversation with Jo Osimuwa, discussing topics such as psychosis, self-harm and personality disorders.
This seminar explores how intensive care supervision supports intensive psychotherapy for a thirteen-year-old girl living in foster care. With speakers Marigemma Rocco and Alice Field, the session examines the transition from ineffective treatment to genuine therapeutic progress. It is designed for child and adolescent psychotherapists, social workers, and clinicians working with looked-after children in therapeutic or residential settings.
This lecture by Dany Nobus explores the mirror phase, a foundational concept in Lacanian psychoanalysis. It examines how a young child identifies with their reflection to form an ego that both unifies and alienates them. The session is designed for practitioners and students wishing to understand how this developmental moment shapes the imaginary register, human identification, rivalry and the sense of self.
This seminar, delivered by Laura Tarsia, explores how clinical practice distinguishes between hysterical and obsessional neuroses. It examines how these structures relate differently to demand, desire and physical experience. Designed for practitioners and analysts, the session investigates the existential questions characteristic of each position and considers how clinicians can work effectively with these distinct patient presentations.
This seminar explores how Freud's concept of sublimation, where drives are satisfied through intellectual or artistic work, relates to unconscious phantasy. Designed for psychotherapists and practitioners, the session with Berjanet Jazani examines how these theories clarify artistic expression and how clinical psychoanalysis explains the origins of creativity.
Lynne Segal and Akshi Singh discuss Lean on Me, and what Segal calls radical care: the claim that dependence on one another is not a weakness to be managed but the ground of any decent politics. The conversation takes in motherhood, ageing, disability and the long argument of left feminism. For practitioners whose work sits on exactly that ground.
This seminar explores the musical structure and process of parent-infant psychotherapy. Speaker Sarah Fielding examines how musicality helps clinicians address pre-verbal states, separation, and unresolved parental trauma within NHS mental health settings. The session is designed for child, adolescent, and parent-infant psychotherapists, as well as students, BPAS candidates, and NHS trainees seeking to deepen their clinical understanding of early developmental encounters.
Yiannis Gabriel argues that Greek myths still do useful work: as sources of meaning when meaning has become precarious, and as a way of thinking about degradation of the environment, migration, inequality and authoritarian politics. He invites the audience to inhabit the old texts rather than interpret them from outside. For clinicians drawn to what narrative and symbol carry that argument does not.
Chloe Aridjis and Devorah Baum talk about The Shadow of the Object, a novel about what objects hold of the people who handled them, and about memory, fantasy and the unconscious as a novelist uses them. The conversation also turns to what fiction and psychoanalysis take from each other. For clinicians who read, and for readers who wonder what analysts do with a novel.
Panos Liakos reads Kane Parsons' Backrooms as a spatial argument about the uncanny, setting Gaston Bachelard's poetics of intimate space against an architecture where nothing shelters and everything repeats. The paper follows Mary, the therapist who enters those corridors, as a literalising of what an analyst attempts. For clinicians interested in where the uncanny has migrated in contemporary horror.
Raluca Soreanu launches The Psychic Life of Fragments, which rethinks trauma and psychic fragmentation from the clinic outwards, reconstructing Sándor Ferenczi's trauma theory and building a vocabulary of splits, leakages and protective membranes to describe what a fragment can do. Written for clinicians and trainees, and for practitioners working with trauma who want something other than the standard account.
This seminar examines the two primary neuroses identified by Freud, focusing on symptom formation and interpretation. Led by Anne Worthington, the session explores how hysteria and obsessional neurosis manage desire, guilt and the physical body. It is designed for practitioners and students seeking a structured introduction to the psychoanalytic comprehension of neurosis.
This seminar explores the foundational 1905 text on sexuality by Freud, examining his theories regarding childhood desire, component drives and the non-reproductive nature of human attraction. Dany Nobus leads the discussion on how these concepts reshaped understanding of development and perversion. The session is designed for practitioners and scholars wishing to study the evolution of these psychoanalytic ideas.
This seminar explores how desire and the drive can be deflected, rerouted or turned. Stuart Cumberland speaks on the theme of redirection, drawing on Freud's concepts of displacement, sublimation and the vicissitudes of the drive. The talk examines how being redirected affects creative work and the process of analysis. It is designed for psychotherapists and practitioners interested in these psychoanalytic dynamics.
November 2026
This series of five seminars explores the concept of the death drive, examining its controversial history and influence within psychoanalysis, art and modern thought. Participants will study the development of the idea in the writings of Freud, Andre Green, Jean Laplanche and Jonathan Lear, alongside cinema, literature and painting. The sessions are with Josh Cohen and are suitable for practitioners, academics and students.
Érico Andrade and Thais Klein ask whether the categories psychoanalysis reaches for when it thinks about violence against women are themselves carrying a patriarchal and colonial grammar. Taking gender and race as tools of epistemological critique, they turn the question back on the discipline and on its ideal of masculinity. Conducted in the language of the speakers, so most useful to lusophone clinicians.
Jacqueline Rose and Devorah Baum discuss Two Women, a novel braiding the lives of Edith Stein and Gillian Rose, two philosophers and converts whose paths trace the last century. The conversation covers what psychoanalysis does inside a writing process, and how fiction handles biography without pretending to be it. For clinicians interested in the border between a life and an account of one.
This conference explores how existentialism can help practitioners navigate complex modern challenges, focusing on themes of power, care, and societal divisions. Designed for the existential therapy community, the event features a keynote by Niki D on whiteness, cisnormativity, and discomfort, alongside presentations on death, caregiving, and mediation. It is ideal for psychotherapists seeking to engage with challenging clinical and ethical dialogues.
This introductory lecture explores the development of the Oedipus complex, tracing its evolution from the foundational theories of Freud to the later reformulations of Lacan. Lucia Corti examines how these distinct psychoanalytic perspectives address childhood development, the superego, and the paternal metaphor. The session is designed for newcomers seeking a clear overview of these structural concepts.
This seminar explores how artistic and intellectual works are produced, focusing on Freud's concept of sublimation and the role of unconscious phantasy in desire. James Town examines how drive energy is redirected toward cultural and creative pursuits, and considers what psychoanalysis contributes to our understanding of creativity. The session is designed for psychotherapists and researchers interested in the intersection of psychoanalytic theory and creative processes.
This discussion meeting, with Karl Huntbach and Anthony Williams, is for individuals based outside London who are considering training as a psychoanalyst. It provides a supportive space to discuss personal experiences, ask questions, and learn about training pathways at the Institute of Psychoanalysis. The session is designed to offer guidance and peer connection rather than individual clinical support or guaranteed admission.
Salman Akhtar takes four dysphoric states in turn: fear and its distinction from anxiety, hatred as a characterological position rather than intensified rage, envy across the disagreement between Freud and Klein, and greed in both its primary and its defensive forms. Each session pairs clinical illustration with literary and everyday examples. Directly useful to anyone meeting these states in transference and countertransference.
This biennial festival explores the theme of passion through contemporary European cinema, examining how intense feelings disrupt reason and relate to psychoanalytic ideas. The opening afternoon celebrates the life and work of Andrea Sabbadini. This event is suitable for psychotherapists, film enthusiasts, and students. It is organised with Katalin Lanczi & Anne Patterson, Co Directors EPFF13.
This seminar, given by Darian Leader, continues a short course on the clinical structures of hysteria and obsessional neurosis. Designed for psychotherapists and practitioners, it examines how these two classical neuroses differ in relation to speech, the body and desire. Attendees will learn how to recognise and work with these distinct psychological frameworks within a clinical setting.
This discussion group, hosted by Shirley Hiscock and James Easton, is designed for London residents who are considering training as psychoanalysts. It provides a supportive space to discuss the training process at the Institute of Psychoanalysis, share personal experiences, and address potential concerns. The session is ideal for prospective candidates seeking peer connection and practical insights before applying.
Christian Dunker asks why the work of Freud continues to hold, more than a century on, and what it still offers to questions of psychic suffering, identity, culture and politics. Part of the anniversary programme of the Freud Museum, the lecture is less a defence of psychoanalysis than an account of what keeps it useful. Conducted in the language of the speaker, so most useful to lusophone clinicians.
This seminar explores how children and young people navigate the complex process of making amends for feelings of hatred towards those they love. Speaker Dr Gil Son I will use clinical vignettes to examine the challenges of genuine reparation, symbolisation and confusion during latency and adolescence. The session is designed for psychotherapists and practitioners working with younger clinical populations.
This interdisciplinary conference explores how artificial intelligence and technology affect psychoanalytic theory, practice and culture. It examines listening, metaphor and seduction within mediated environments. The event is designed for psychotherapists, analysts and scholars. Speakers include Prof. Alessandra Lemma, Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska, Prof. Michael Chanan, Dr Kurt Jacobsen, Dr Bob Hinshelwood, Giuseppe Caruso and David Morgan.
This introductory session provides information about the organisation, its members, tutors and available courses. Attendees can speak directly with current trainees and teaching staff to learn about the educational pathways on offer. The event is designed for anyone interested in pursuing professional qualification with The Guild of Psychotherapists.
This introductory seminar with Luca Bosetti explores the three fundamental registers of Lacanian theory: the Real, the Symbolic and the Imaginary. Participants will examine how these distinct orders function, connect and shape human experience. The session is designed for practitioners and students seeking a clear foundation in these core concepts of Lacanian psychoanalysis.
This seminar explores the Freudian concept of sublimation, examining how unconscious phantasy and the redirection of drives fuel intellectual and artistic creation. Christos Tombras discusses how psychoanalysis interprets the origins of art and thought. The session is designed for psychotherapists and practitioners interested in clinical perspectives on creativity, forming part of an ongoing series of thematic discussions.
This seminar explores the relationship between the artistic practice of Louise Bourgeois and psychoanalytic concepts of sublimation and unconscious phantasy. Speaker Jamieson Webster examines how Bourgeois used space, material and repetition to address themes of memory, anxiety, the mother and the body. The talk is designed for psychotherapists, art theorists and practitioners interested in the intersection of sculpture and psychoanalysis.
This seminar features a paper by Adam Field exploring how Laura Mulvey applied Freudian psychoanalysis to her work. The talk examines how she used technological changes to rethink Freud, focusing on cinematic form, digital video, and philosophies of time. This event is designed for researchers and PhD students across disciplines, including psychoanalysis, film, art, and literature, who wish to discuss new psychoanalytically informed research.
This seminar focuses on the difficulties of providing neonatal care during the Covid-19 pandemic, drawing on the experiences of a public hospital in Santiago, Chile. Featuring Macarena Hernández, the session explores clinical work with infants and parents in intensive care settings. It is designed for psychotherapists, students and healthcare trainees interested in early-years development, parent-infant therapy and psychoanalytic support for families facing adversity.
This seminar with Eve Watson explores Freud's 1909 case history of a young man suffering from obsessional neurosis, known as the Rat Man. Participants will examine the patient's compulsions, doubts and fears, alongside Freud's analysis of guilt, ambivalence and paternal relationships. The session is designed for psychotherapists and practitioners wishing to deepen their understanding of obsessional structure through this classic clinical text.
This study group focuses on the psychoanalysis of children, examining how drawing, play and speech function in place of adult association. Convened by Bice Benvenuto, the sessions explore clinical work with young people, drawing on traditions from Melanie Klein and Anna Freud to Lacanian practice. It is designed for practitioners seeking a collaborative space to discuss clinical cases and developmental theory.
December 2026
This introductory lecture by Darian Leader explores the concept of identification, a central theme in psychoanalytic theory regarding subject formation and the ego. The session examines the various forms of identification distinguished by Freud, ranging from early paternal bonds to those shaping the ego, superego, group dynamics, love, and mourning. It is designed for practitioners and students seeking to deepen their understanding of these foundational psychoanalytic concepts.
This seminar explores the nature of creativity through a psychoanalytic lens. Vincent Dachy examines how new ideas emerge, focusing on sublimation, drive, phantasy, and loss. Drawing on the artistic writings of Freud, the session investigates the materials of creative work and distinguishes genuine creation from mere repetition. It is designed for practitioners and researchers interested in the psychological conditions that allow creative work to happen.
This round table discussion explores the origins of artistic expression and how psychoanalysis interprets the creative process. With Daniela Oliveira Grund, Henrik Lynggaard and Conor McCormack, the event examines Freud's concept of sublimation, focusing on how unconscious drives are channelled into cultural output, alongside the influence of unconscious phantasy on human desire. It is designed for practitioners and researchers interested in these clinical and theoretical themes.
This presentation with Tatiana Zegrean explores the impact of parental narcissistic abuse on a child's developing selfhood. It examines how relational power dynamics and a lack of parental recognition shape a person's long-term capacity for trust, choice and self-understanding. The session is designed for psychotherapists and practitioners interested in phenomenological approaches to family dynamics, care and relational trauma.
This seminar examines how remote working affects psychoanalytic practice, focusing on changes to the clinical frame, intimacy and unconscious communication. With Haroula Ntalla, the session explores how practitioners experienced the shift to telephone and video platforms. This event is designed for researchers, PhD students and practitioners across various disciplines who want to discuss new psychoanalytically informed research.
This seminar explores Freud's 1914 paper, On Narcissism: An Introduction, with Carmen Wright. The session examines how this text transformed psychoanalytic concepts of love, self-regard and the ego. It focuses on the distinction between narcissistic libido and object libido, alongside the ego ideal. This event is designed for psychotherapists and practitioners wishing to deepen their understanding of these foundational theories.
This seminar explores the complex style of Lacan's writing, marking sixty years since the publication of Écrits. Dany Nobus examines why these texts resist simple interpretation and considers their lasting influence on psychoanalysis, including concepts like the mirror stage and the return to Freud. The session is designed for practitioners and scholars wishing to deepen their understanding of these foundational papers.
This seminar, which forms part of a series, focuses on clinical work with a post-autistic adolescent boy. Dr Judith Edwards will discuss the therapeutic processes involved in helping young patients find stability. The session is designed for psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, and trainees seeking to deepen their understanding of child and adolescent analysis through detailed case material.
January 2027
This seminar examines how sharing digital photographs on social media affects the human psyche. Greta Kaluževičiūtė delivers a paper exploring how online images function as appeals for recognition, drawing on theories of narcissism and the gaze. The session is designed for researchers, doctoral students and practitioners interested in the intersection of psychoanalysis and modern digital culture.
February 2027
This seminar examines the psychological impact of artificial intelligence in mourning, focusing on how digital replicas of the deceased alter the human experience of loss. Using psychoanalytic and phenomenological perspectives, the session explores how these technologies affect subjective agency and grief. This event, featuring a paper by Fahimeh Hajiabadi, is designed for researchers, PhD students and practitioners across various disciplines.
March 2027
This seminar examines the concept of shock-experience, exploring the intellectual connections between Sigmund Freud and Walter Benjamin. With Tiger Liu, the session investigates how early electrical technology and social history influenced both thinkers. The discussion is designed for doctoral students and researchers across various disciplines, including psychoanalysis, psychology, history, literature, and art, who wish to discuss new psychoanalytic research.
April 2027
This seminar features a paper by Sarah Durkee exploring the relationship between Freud's scientific worldview, his critique of religion, and his disillusionment with technological innovation. The discussion examines how humanity uses science to soothe anxieties and escape vulnerability, striving to become a prosthetic God. This event is designed for PhD students and researchers across various disciplines, including psychoanalysis, psychology, literature, art, film, and history.
Vestibola is not the organiser of any event listed here and takes no booking, fee or responsibility for it.