Psychoanalysis, the secure society and the role of relationships

Abstract

There is growing concern about how people respond to a fast-changing world in the context of economic decline. Symptoms of distress such as depression and anxiety are reaching epidemic proportions alongside the breakdown of family stability. This paper considers how psychoanalysis can enter the debate about these concerns and whether psychoanalytic theory and practice in the UK has concentrated too much on the individual to the exclusion of the wider family and the community.

Keywords::

• relationships
• psychoanalysis
• society

Notes

^1. The Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (London) was founded in 1948 and is a specialist centre of excellence providing advanced psychoanalytic training, research and expertise in the field of couple relationships. www.tccr.ac.uk.