We are the leading research centre for the history of psychoanalysis in Britain.
Since 1962, we have recorded almost 200 accessions to our archive, which has grown to contain over 40 collections including those of many of our most eminent psychoanalysts, including Joan Riviere and Marion Milner amongst others. The archive holds immense value to our members and to the many researchers, academics and students that consult the collections. At the last annual count we welcomed visitors from 15 different countries across 6 continents.
The archive collections are housed at the Institute of Psychoanalysis in London's Maida Vale, in a recently enlarged dedicated archive store, designed in 2016 by Caswell Bank Architects and specified by Max Fordham LLP to meet the British Standard BS EN 16893 for the conservation of cultural heritage.
Many of our collection items are available for loan to museums or similar institutions; please do contact us if you are considering items from our collections for use in your exhibition. We use SPECTRUM, the UK collection management standard, recognised nationally and internationally as the primary specification for collections management activity.
Items from our collections have been showcased in two recent exhibitions; The Enigma of the Hour: 100 Years of Psychoanalytic Thought at Freud Museum London & Organized Escape: Psychoanalysts in Exile at Freud Museum Vienna.
The archive is managed by a qualified archivist and is supported by a committee of members and external consultants.
