Council for Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis College

The Council for Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis (CPJA) is made up of UKCP individual and organisational members who all share a psychoanalytic philosophy of psychotherapy.

In psychoanalytic psychotherapy the relationship between the patient/client and the therapist is a central part of what Sigmund Freud called ‘the talking cure’. Psychoanalytic therapists must engage in lengthy analytic therapy themselves during training in order to be aware of their own psyche and therefore be more available to the client or patient.

Undertaking a psychoanalytic therapy training involves a significant commitment of time and can be financially and emotionally challenging, but for many it is a life changing experience as well as a pathway to a stimulating, companionable and rewarding career. CPJA is not a training body, but information on training can be obtained from the Training Organisations listed below.

Psychoanalytic practice includes Freudian, Jungian analysis, object relations based, psychodynamic, attachment based and relational approaches to working with the psyche. These are described in more detail on our pages on this website which explain different psychotherapeutic approaches. Many psychoanalytic therapists offer different types of therapy, such as art, drama, music and body therapy informed by psychoanalytic theory.

CPJA members work on the understanding that our unconscious and early life experiences and historic relationships affect our development and current experience and relationships with ourselves and with others.

In making the unconscious conscious, practitioners believe that clients will be more informed about themselves and why they experience things as they do. This gives them the potential to make new choices about how they live with greater awareness and less distress.

Working with the unconscious in psychoanalytic therapy may involve working with dreams and using free association alongside interpretations of symbolic experiences and material as well as straightforwardly talking things through. Classically, psychoanalytic psychotherapists work with individual clients and may offer them a couch or a chair in their consulting rooms. They may also offer sessions online or by telephone.

Psychoanalytic therapy may be offered as individual adult, couple, group, child or family therapy. The therapist may also offer different models of attendance from once a week to twice or more times each week. Therapy can take place over a time limited period, but it is more usual for it to last for some time, from several months to several years. It can be a slow process, but it is widely acknowledged that working at depth can bring enduring relief from suffering and lead to profound change for the individual.

Contact Details

To contact this college, please email CPJAadmin@ukcp.org.uk.