Psychoanalysis in its pure form is practically nowhere to be seen in most parts of the country. This partly reflects the fact that the country's cultural life is centred on London, but it is also true that therapists feel the need for collegial support - supervisions, clinical meetings, referral networks. Both the Institute of Psycho-analysis and the Tavistock Clinic are engaged in serious outreach programmes, but the distribution of therapists through the country is still dreadful. There is a strong bias against psychoanalytic thinking in British psychiatry, so the number of posts for psychotherapists in the National Health Service is small, while most psychiatrists who practice therapy have had little or no training which a psychotherapist would credit. Looking at the broader psychoanalytic culture one sees some more promising signs.
British universities are notoriously narrow in their views of psychology.
Human nature hardly gets a look in. Sensation, perception, learning theory, artificial intelligence, brain and behaviour research, animal behaviour - these are the staple diet offered to students who turn up at universities seeking insight into humanity. But some of them are, at last, opening their doors to psychodynamic thinking. There are significant initiatives at Cambridge, Warwick, Essex, Middlesex Polytechnic and the Polytechnic of East London. But by far the most interesting development is the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury.