In 2019, Joanna Ryan and Raluca Soreanu, in conversation, discovered that they shared a fantasy: organising a conference on free psychoanalytic clinics, which could both explore their variety of practices and build a theoretical vocabulary for making sense of their innovations. This intersecting fantasy, and the two conferences that followed, are part of the genealogy of FREEPSY as a research project. Raluca Soreanu conceived the project between the first conference, held in January 2021, and the second conference, held in July the same year. The conferences produced a remarkably vibrant space, engaging 300 participants on the first occasion and 200 on the second. They were hosted by The Freud Museum (online). Several of the contributors to these conferences became close allies of FREEPSY.
Ivan Ward contributed to the conception and organisation of the first conference, while Lisa Baraitser contributed to the second. They were jointly supported by The Waiting Times Project (Wellcome Trust, PIs Lisa Baraitser and Laura Salisbury) and Balint Groups Project (Wellcome Trust, PI Raluca Soreanu).
The conferences produced Special Issue 24 (3) of Psychoanalysis & History, published in December 2022 (free to download), edited by Matt ffytche, Joanna Ryan and Raluca Soreanu. A second special issue is being edited at present by Lisa Baraitser, Joanna Ryan and Raluca Soreanu.
