Our London-based psychoanalytic training programme is run on a part-time basis and leads to a rewarding career in the mental health sector.

**Winner of the BPC Award for ‘Diversity in Training’ 2024**

During the training as a Candidate Member of the BPA you will enjoy the stimulation of a community of professional colleagues, an environment that encourages further learning, an opportunity to attend congresses and workshops of the International Psychoanalytical Association, and meet candidates and analysts from around the world.

Successful completion of the training leads to membership of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA), the EPF (European Psychoanalytic Federation) and the British Psychoanalytic Association (BPA). Qualification also leads to registration with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC).

Training content

Personal Psychoanalysis

A Candidate’s personal psychoanalysis is central to his/her development as a psychoanalyst and must be continued four or more times weekly with a BPA approved training analyst until Membership has been obtained.  It must be commenced at a frequency of x4 or x5 weekly, with a BPA approved training analyst, at least 12 months prior to application and must be continued until qualification.  For those who are unable to travel easily to their analysis (for example, because of geographical distance) BPA offers a flexible approach so that a proportion of sessions can be conducted remotely. This would be decided on an individual basis and arranged between the training analyst and the candidate with the agreement of the Training Committee.

Theoretical Seminars

Candidates are required to attend Theoretical Seminars once a week for four years. Seminars take place from 8.30 to 10.00 pm on Tuesdays over three terms with ten seminars per term. Seminars are held in-person at either Prince of Wales Road, London, or at the Seminar Leaders’ consulting room. They offer candidates an understanding of the history of psychoanalytic ideas starting with Freud and including the Independent and Kleinian schools of psychoanalytic thought, and recent developments in British object relations. Our theoretical programme is committed to psychoanalytic pluralism, and candidates will have the opportunity to engage deeply with a broad range of psychoanalytic theories and ideas. The aim of the theoretical programme, combined with the personal analysis and other aspects of the training, is to provide candidates with sufficient understanding of analytic concepts and the complexity of the human psyche to be able to function independently as a psychoanalyst by the end of the training.

The syllabus encompasses the following areas, although individual seminars may change from year to year.

Year 1:  Candidates are offered a solid grounding in Freud’s writings in historical perspective, starting from his pre-psychoanalytic papers and discovery of the Unconscious, through the development of his models of the mind. Close reading of Freud’s metapsychological papers, case histories, and papers on technique.

Year 2: Psychoanalytic approaches to child development from infancy through adolescence, transference and countertransference, and the work of Klein, Winnicott, Balint and Fairbairn.

Year 3: Psychoanalytic perspectives on narcissism, depression, borderline states, sexuality, violence and perversions, and a series on the Contemporary Independent and the Contemporary Freudian traditions.

Year 4: Bion and the post-Kleinians, assessment, dreams, ethics, cultural diversity, comparative technique and concluding seminars aimed at synthesis of the four years of theory.

Infant Observation Seminars

During the first year of the course trainees are required to observe a mother and her baby in the family setting once a week for an hour. The observations are  discussed at a weekly seminar. An Infant Observation paper is written by the candidate (4000-6000 words) and this must be passed before the candidate can apply to take on a first training patient.

Seminars take place on Thursday evenings.

Clinical Seminars

Weekly Clinical Seminars take place on Thursday evenings from 8.30 to 10.00 pm in-person at either Prince of Wales Road, London,  or at the Seminar Leaders’ consulting room. They are attended from the second year until qualification. The seminars provide the opportunity for candidates to present and discuss the treatment of their training patients in a small group with experienced BPA seminar leaders of different psychoanalytic orientations in a confidential setting.

Treatment of training patients

Candidates are required to treat two patients (one male and one female), each for a minimum of four sessions per week, in accordance with the Code of Ethics of the British Psychoanalytic Council and the BPA’s Guidelines on Confidentiality. One training patient must be treated for at least two years and one for at least 18 months although it is expected that the analytic treatment will continue well beyond these periods of time. An application to take a first patient takes place upon successful completion of the Infant Observation paper. An application to take a second patient may take place after the first patient has been seen for six months. The BPA’s Low Fee Service will help to find a suitable patient for candidates. Candidates are required to write reports on their patients every six months and seminars are held to help with report writing.

Supervision

Each patient is discussed in weekly supervision with a BPA approved training analyst. Supervision continues throughout the training until Membership is obtained.

Cost

There is an annual fee of £1,878 for the first four years of the Training, reducing to £1128 for subsequent years. The fees are reviewed periodically, but we aim to keep charges low, bearing in mind that Candidates need to cover the costs of their personal analysis and of their supervision.

Progress Advisors

The Progress Advisor is involved in all aspects of the Candidates training and their progression . They provide a link between the Candidate and the Training.

Continuous Assessment

The Training Committee is responsible for all decisions at each stage of the candidate’s training. Throughout all aspects of the Training each candidate’s development is continuously assessed which helps to identify both strengths and difficulties and provides an opportunity for the latter to be addressed before they become too problematic. Termly meetings between Progress Advisor and candidate provide an opportunity for both parties to participate in a constructive on-going appraisal and discussion of the candidate’s development.

Feedback from Candidates

The Training Committee values feedback from candidates about all aspects of the Training and candidates have an opportunity to raise issues and provide feedback to the Training Committee in a number of ways.

Scientific Life

During their training candidates have opportunities to participate in the scientific life of the BPA, the IPA, the EPF and IPSO, the student body of the IPA, by attending the Scientific Meetings, Congresses and Workshops held by these organisations.

Structure

The training begins in September and is delivered across three terms over the course of four years. It involves:

  • Weekly Theoretical Seminars take place once a week from 8.30 to 10.00 p.m., usually on Tuesdays over three terms which range from ten to thirteen weeks and are based either in London or at the Seminar Leaders’ consulting room.
  • Weekly Infant Observation Seminars take place on Thursday  evenings in person at Prince of Wales Road, London or at the Seminar Leaders’ consulting room, during Year 1.
  • Weekly Clinical Seminars are held on Thursday evenings from 8.30 to 10.00 pm in-person at Prince of Wales Road in London or at the Seminar Leaders’ consulting room from Year 2.
  • Weekly supervision with a BPA approved training supervisor.

Candidates also work with two training patients seen at least four times weekly, one for at least two years and one for at least 18 months.

Entry Requirement

Applicants are expected to have:

  • Academic qualifications: A degree or equivalent.
  • Work experience: Applicants are accepted from a wide range of disciplines and working backgrounds but work experience in psychology, medicine, nursing, social work, and teaching are recognised as particularly relevant.
  • Worked in a mental health setting: Applicants are required to have experience of work with psychiatric patients.   Applicants without this will be required to undertake a placement in a mental health setting during the first year of their training.
  • Had personal psychoanalysis: This must be with an IPA Training Analyst approved by the BPA, at a minimum of four times a week.  This needs to be for one year prior to applying for the training. We can help find a suitable training analyst if required.

Application and selection process

Those interested in applying may contact us to arrange an informal discussion about aspects of the training, the entry requirements or regarding their readiness to apply. Please see the ‘Contact Us’ section below.

After informal discussions, potential applicants will require permission from the Selection Committee to formally apply to the training. Please note that there is a deadline for applications but applications may be submitted at any point prior to the deadline. With their completed application form, applicants must submit the names of two referees, copies of all degree and diploma certificates as well as the application fee.

Applicants will have three interviews with three different analysts before a decision is made as to whether or not they will be accepted.

Deadline

The BPA is currently receiving applications for the training to commence in September 2026. The closing date for applications is March 31st 2026. If you wish to apply after the deadline please contact the Training Co-ordinator.

Application fee

The fee for processing the application is £200, however we offer an “early bird” price of £75 for those received on or before December 31st 2025.

Fees and subscriptions

Candidates pay fees annually to the BPA for all the Seminars.  Candidates negotiate fees with their Training Analyst and Supervisors and pay them directly for their personal analysis and supervision.

Candidates pay a significantly reduced subscription for student membership of the BPA. This also covers administration of the training. Candidates are automatically student members of the EPF (The European Psychoanalytic Federation) which is included in the fee. They may opt to pay a small annual fee to receive the EPF Bulletin. Candidates are strongly encouraged to join IPSO, The International Psychoanalytic Student Organisation, for which there is a small fee.

There is an annual fee of £1,888 for the first four years of the Training, reducing to £1,138 for subsequent years. The fees are reviewed periodically, but we aim to keep charges low, bearing in mind that Candidates need to cover the costs of their personal analysis and of their supervision.

Qualification and membership

In assessing a candidate’s readiness to qualify the Training Committee, through discussion with the Progress Advisor, will review reports from Seminar Leaders and Supervisors. The Training Committee will be looking for evidence of sufficient understanding and development of candidates’ clinical and analytic work with their training cases.

Clinical paper

As part of the assessment process candidates will be required to write a Clinical Paper of 6-7000 words based upon work undertaken with one of the training patients. It will be read by two Readers who will then meet with the candidate to discuss the paper. The Readers will then submit a written report to the Training Committee, indicating whether they consider the paper to be satisfactory or not. The final decision as to the candidate’s readiness to qualify is made by the Training Committee.

Upon qualification

On qualification candidates will:

  • Become members of the BPA
  • Become members of the IPA
  • Become members of the EPF
  • Become registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) as psychoanalysts
  • Have access to post-graduate seminars, courses and conferences organised by the BPA for their further development as psychoanalysts

Contact us

If you are interested to find out more about our training and how to apply now or in the future you, please contact:

To download a list of BPA training analysts, please click here.