Aims of the Institute

"Dzieło musi być uzupełnione w naszym wnętrzu. Stąd, jak sądzę, bierze się poczucie niewyczerpywalności wielkiego dzieła sztuki – możemy bez końca patrzeć na obraz, bez końca słuchać utworu muzycznego, czytać poezję. Nigdy bowiem nie wyczerpujemy do końca możliwości jego dopełnienia"

The Hanna Segal Institute for Psychoanalytic Studies (ISPHS) is an association formed by psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, who are members of the Polish and the international analytic societies, as well as other professionals experienced in psychoanalytic approach. The main task of the Institute is the development of clinical programmes rooted in psychoanalytic discoveries in relation to the treatment of psychoses, depression, personality disorders, child and adolescent psychotherapy, as well as perinatal psychological help and therapeutic support for the elderly.
Besides the direct involvement in clinical practice in the above areas, the members of the Institute provide regular training for health care professionals of a variety of disciplines and for university students. The Institute organises lectures, symposiums, conferences, workshops and training sessions, exploring the forms of scientific communication that are most adequate and helpful to the wide group of professionals, including clinicians, doctors, psychologists, nurses as well as artists, culture historians and art critics, philosophers, pedagogues and sociologists.

The Institute is also engaged in research in the fields of art and culture, as well as social and institutional processes. In addition, the Institute carries out research on the history of psychoanalysis and has created the archives of relevant documentation.

The team of the Institute aims at the systematic development of own clinical skills and qualifications, as well as the scientific and ethical standards. The philosophy and the training model are inspired by some principles of the relevant training programmes at the Institute of Psychoanalysis and the Tavistock Clinic in London.

The presence of the name of a distinguished Polish psychoanalyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society, the late Hanna Segal, in the name of the Institute, is to commemorate her person, her discoveries and the influence she had on the development of Polish psychoanalytic thought. Her clinical discoveries and theoretical conceptions are popularised by the team of the Institute, and play a significant role in their clinical, scientific and educational work.

The Institute is a member of The International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis.