Promoting and developing psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy since 1985
Our mission is to improve the mental health of individuals and the community by promoting psychoanalytic thinking and the practice of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy, and by providing high quality education, and professional training.
What is special about psychoanalytic thinking and practice?
Psychoanalysis is a broad body of theory and associated treatment which recognises the important and powerful role that is played by the unconscious in all of our actions and in our personal and social relationships.
Psychoanalytic therapies prioritise attention to the unconscious in our relationships, including in the relationship between the patient/client and therapist, and the patient’s relationship with themselves. In the safe environment of the consulting room, with a psychotherapist who is respectful and interested, previously unrecognised wishes, thoughts and feelings can be helpfully acknowledged and engaged with. At the same time, people come to therapy to find out who they are, what motivates them, and how they can most creatively live with the realities of their lives, personalities and circumstances.
Psychoanalytic thinking is the bedrock on which psychotherapy is built. This therapy works because we seek to engage with pain, distress and conflict without avoiding or glossing over them. It often takes both time and patience, and it can be life-changing.
How psychoanalytic thinking can be applied:
Psychoanalytic thinking can be applied more widely than in the consulting room. It can offer a way to think about about relationships within and between organisations; to considerations of social policy and social justice; to many areas of academic discourse.
In all of these areas we seek to think about the core areas of distress or conflict, and establishing an environment that supports development in an open and exploratory way.
Our values
We are committed to:
- Psychoanalytic thinking and practice.
- Reducing emotional suffering and improving individual and societal well-being.
- Inclusiveness and Social Justice.
- Open and respectful communication within our Institute and beyond.
- Creative engagement – being forward thinking and open to new ideas.
- Maintaining rigorous standards and professional practice, in all areas of our activity.
Our aims
- To be a robust, well-structured and sustainable psychoanalytic organisation that looks after its members, is forward thinking and open to change.
- To provide safe and appropriate environments in which patients, trainees, staff and members can foster their creative development, as well as explore painful feelings, conflict and difference.
- To implement effective organisational policies that will increase the accessibility of our services and training
- To promote psychoanalytic and psychodynamic thinking, understanding and practice through two nationally-accredited professional clinical trainings, and by providing education for those interested in exploring other applications of psychoanalytic thinking.
- To work in partnership and engage with other organisations and individuals who share our aim of addressing emotional and mental distress in the community.
Our building
Our home is a grade-two listed Georgian building at the heart of central Bristol. Here we house our library containing 1000+ psychotherapy books and journals. We hold our clinical training, seminars and tutorials here and we have eight well-maintained consulting rooms for use by psychotherapists and counsellors.
Donate to support SIP's Low cost clinic and subsidised access to therapy schemes
Help us continue to offer accessible, responsive and effective services to those who need it.
Come to one of our events or short courses
We offer a plethora of short courses and workshops that give you the opportunity to better understand psychodynamic and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. They are designed such that they are well suited for both beginners and for experienced professional therapists.
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