ABSTRACT
Coming together to compile this book, with its focus on the Independent tradition in
British psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, we have had interesting discussions with our
co-authors and between ourselves. In recent years-at least publicly since the 50th
anniversary conference of the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) in 1999-
there has been said to have been much rapprochement between the different training and
theoretical traditions. While we would agree with this-and indeed see the establishment
of an Independent training in 1982 as pivotal in encouraging it-it is important to
acknowledge that there are still important differences in approach amongst the training
schools, approaches informed by theoretical divergence. Where we have moved on, we
suspect, is in our capacity to tolerate and even enjoy discussion of these differences-an
acceptance of diversity, and a new capacity to be curious about each other. This takes us
a long way from the ‘collisions’ described by Rycroft (Pearson 2004-and see next
chapter) as masquerading as ‘discussions’ in the Institute of Psychoanalysis in the 1950s.
