Latest News from The Guild


9 March 2024: The Enemy Within the white Mind: Analyzing the Role of Misandric Caricatures in Psychological Assessments of Black Males.

This is the latest in a series of seminars on Decolonising Psychoanalysis, organised by the Race and Culture Committee of the Guild of Psychotherapists. The series is intended to open up conversations about psychoanalysis by initiating Psycho-Philosophical Dialogues between academic philosophers and psychotherapists, bringing clinical responses to their academic decolonial work. (read more...)


Grants, Trusts and Corporate Fundraiser Required

The Guild of Psychotherapists is one of England’s leading psychotherapy training organisations with 250 members and 70 trainees. From our London headquarters we operate a clinic providing low-fee psychotherapy to people in Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham. This is a valuable and unique resource allowing individuals to access ongoing support for up to two years. (read more...)



Psychoanalysis and the Prison System

We are pleased to announce the next event in our Psychoanalysis at the Margins series, Psychoanalysis and the Prison System, which will take place Sat 4th Nov, 2-5pm, online via Zoom.  (read more...)





10 Dec 2022: Psychoanalysis and Colonialism Revisited

This is the latest in a series of seminars on Decolonising Psychoanalysis, organised by the Race and Culture Committee of the Guild of Psychotherapists. The series is intended to open up conversations about psychoanalysis by initiating Transatlantic Dialogues between academic research and clinical practice. (read more...)



Safety and COVID-19 Update

With the ending of government Plan B regulations safeguarding against COVID-19, the Guild of Psychotherapists has a plan to manage the continued risks of COVID at the building in Nelson Square. We will continue to assess these risks and keep everyone who uses the building informed. (read more...)


19 Nov 2022: Radical Roots v Today’s Hubris

The Race and Culture Committee at The Guild of Psychotherapists has been looking back into its own history, a history which has been challenging the issues of race and racism within our organisation and the wider profession since the 1980’s. Through this process of introspection, it became clear that it was time to look outward and bring colleagues together, so... (read more...)



2 Jul 2022: Questioning 'Diversity' in Psychoanalysis

This is the third in a series of seminars on Decolonising Psychoanalysis, organised by the Race and Culture Committee of the Guild of Psychotherapists. The series is intended to open up conversations about psychoanalysis by initiating Transatlantic Dialogues between academic research and clinical practice. In this instance, both speakers are clinicians, researchers, teachers and activists, and their talks will address... (read more...)




LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS

I trained as a doctor and worked in medical practice for a time. After the birth of my third child I had a depressive breakdown, which I found terrifying. This was in 1950 and no one seemed to know anything about psychotherapy. This made it much worse. (read more...)


Application For Membership Of The Guild Of Psychotherapists For Those Not Trained At The Guild

We welcome applications for membership of The Guild of Psychotherapists from UKCP registered psychotherapists who are non-Guild trained. For further details of eligibility and the application process, including our Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) application route to membership, please see the document below.  (read more...)


Psychoanalysis for the People

His speech resonated with many psychoanalysts of his time, who were invested in the social mission of psychoanalysis and who were the authors of significant institutional innovations, setting up free and low-cost clinics in Vienna, Berlin and Budapest. (read more...)



The Lost Walk to the Guild

The attempts to contain Coronavirus have entailed the loss of many ordinary facets of life that it was easy to take for granted. The arrival of lockdown meant that our fourth year trainees had to complete their training remotely. One of them, Elizabeth Stephen, has made a video about her experiences. She explains: (read more...)



Black Lives Matter

The Guild of Psychotherapists stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. We recognise that systemic and institutionalised racism are both historic and current in the UK. For this to change, we need to take responsibility for speaking out against racism, both as individuals and as an organisation. (read more...)


Guild Clinic COVID Service Update

We are open. The Clinic is operating remotely and continues to offer talking therapy sessions over the phone or via video call to people across the South London boroughs of Lewisham, Southwark, and Lambeth. Please contact us via email clinic@guildofpsychotherapists.org.uk to assist with the processing of any enquiries concerning reduced fee psychotherapy sessions. (read more...)


The Guild's Response to Coronavirus

As the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to unfold, the Guild of Psychotherapists is unable to conduct clinic assessments or offer face-to-face psychotherapy sessions at the moment. We hope to resume normal functioning of our clinics, trainings and other Guild provision as soon as possible. We ask you to please contact us via email admin@guildofpsychotherapists.org.uk to assist with the processing of any enquiries.  (read more...)








The Work of Christopher Bollas - Two Seminars with Sarah Nettleton

Christopher Bollas has made an extraordinarily wide contribution to contemporary psychoanalysis. Expanding on the legacy of Freud, Winnicott and Bion, his writings cover theory, clinical technique and psychopathology, and the application of psychoanalytic thinking to many aspects of culture and society. Most of all, he is concerned with the intricate complexity of human subjectivity. (read more...)




John Heaton Memorial Symposium

A discussion of the last works of John Heaton, Guild founder. Four speakers will take chapters from The Talking Cure or Wittgenstein and Psychotherapy and briefly speak of their relevance (15 mins).  Luke Heaton will introduce John’s unfinished book, which he is completing. (read more...)


A Psychotherapeutic Approach for Gender Dysphoria - Guild Annual Lecture

Since 2000, Dr Az Hakeem has run a national Specialist Psychotherapy Service for persons with transgender and other gender identity conditions. Whilst gender reassignment procedures of cross-sex hormones and sex-reassignment surgery are certainly useful options for people with a fixed gender identity of the to the opposite gender to that of their sex at birth, there are people who have... (read more...)




New UKCP Ethics Code Consultation

The UKCP has recently released a draft revision to their Code of Ethics and has sought consultation from its member organisations. Previous drafts were criticised for appearing to blur the line between laying out a code of ethics and a more prescriptive code of conduct. The UKCP has requested that members respond with their comments before September 2018.  (read more...)


Something About Our Bodies - Two Lectures on FGM

Female genital mutilation is a centuries old practice carried out in some parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Female genital mutilation is a collective term for cultural or other non-therapeutic procedures. These are typically performed on girls aged between 4 and 13, but in some cases, it is performed on new-born infants or on young women before marriage... (read more...)


Aesthetic Conflict and Counterdreaming

Drawing on literary sources and on the psychoanalytic theory of Bion and Meltzer, Meg will discuss the concept of ‘aesthetic conflict’ (first formulated for psychoanalysis by Meltzer in 1988) which has sometimes been found both interesting and puzzling. She will relate this to the nature of ‘counterdreaming’ (Meltzer’s term for the psychoanalytic reverie that is the basis for interior observation)... (read more...)


CAUTIOUS RECEPTION FOR NICE GUIDELINES FOR DEPRESSION

The UKCP has cautiously welcomed new draft guidance published by NICE on the treatment of depression in adults. The new draft includes recommendations for psychodynamic psychotherapy, couples therapy and counselling, which are welcome improvements. Yet CBT continues to dominate recommendations despite evidence showing that other therapies yield similar or better results. (read more...)




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