Research Database

Welcome to the IPA Research Database 

Introduction 

"Location, location, location!" Intellectual property, as well as the physical type, is constrained as much by where it is situated as the quality of the materials. Much of what is on this website is available in learned journals, books, conference proceedings and other websites. The IPA has decided to bring together on its own web pages the major advances of psychoanalytic knowledge, which its seven year research program has achieved.

There is value in collecting together these materials. It provides all those visiting this website with an accurate impression of where cutting edge psychoanalytic research is at in the first decade of the twenty-first century. It is a falsehood to maintain that the psychoanalytic approach has no evidence base. There is extensive past and current work which supports the psychodynamic approach to the development of the mind, personality and psychopathology, and psychotherapy. This knowledge unfortunately is scattered and is limited relative to the overwhelming quantity of cognitive behavioural and biological research. It is therefore all the more important that we should use the opportunities provided by this website to present a coherent and up-to-date view of the current state of psychoanalytic work from projects funded by the IPA.

The funding of research was a courageous and imaginative move of the Kernberg-Tyson administration of the IPA and continued under the Widlöcher-Gibeault and Widlöcher-Campbell administrations. Many objected to this use of IPA funds. The grants awarded were small and not all but a surprisingly large number of the awards delivered published material. The aim of this website is to make the findings accessible to clinicians, highlighting the practical significance of research for practice.

The IPA is indebted to the researchers who provided the information on this website in formats suitable for online publication. We are also indebted to the work of three tireless contributors, Drs. Zsolt Unoka and Elizabeth Allison and Lianda van Dyk, who are responsible for creating the website and organizing the materials and indexes. They have gathered together an exciting collection of information which deserves careful comprehensive study as well as more leisurely browsing.

Peter Fonagy PhD FBA

The resarch database for this website is still under construction. Data is still being collected and processed and as yet not all the research conducted with the support of the IPA is represented. Publication of further materials is ongoing. Please bookmark this site and return often to check for updates.