ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some of the ways in which psychoanalytic therapies have existed or do now exist within various public sectors, especially the third or voluntary sector of community clinics. The idea of free or low-cost psychoanalytic clinics, available to working-class people, went into abeyance after the demise of the Vienna and Berlin clinics and in the wake of World War II. The reworkings of psychoanalysis did not remain at the level of ideology alone but also led to a plethora of innovative practical community projects, providing socially conscious forms of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, accessible to those previously excluded financially or put off by mainstream elitism, bias and prejudice. Many projects and clinics situate themselves in economically deprived areas with the inclusive aim of increasing access to therapy. Such conscious sociogeographic placement means that many factors arise concerning the cultural interface between the profession of psychoanalytic therapy, its staff and the intended clientele.
