• Can I submit an application in any language?

• Nominations

• Letters of Support

• Award Basics

• Award Criteria

• Application Process

• Judging Process

• Shift of the Three-year Geographic Rotation

• Advisory Council

• Trustees

Yes, You can submit your application in over 100 languages. Judging of submissions will be conducted in English leveraging Google Translate.

Nominations are welcome, however a nomination in not necessary to apply for the Award. All submissions follow the same application process whether the work is nominated or submitted directly by an applicant to help ensure the Award process is equitable.

Nominate the work of an individual, team, or organization here. The nominee will receive an email to inform them that they have been nominated and by whom with a request to complete The Sigourney Award application.

How many letters of support do applicants need?

Applicants are required to provide two letters of support. Nomination letters are considered letters of support.

How do applicants request a letter of support?

Letters of Support are requested as part of the online application. After completing a summary paragraph, applicants provide contact information for two supporters. The supporter will receive a link via email and respond to a series of questions regarding the applicant's work. Once the form is complete, the supporter will submit it. The letter of support will automatically be attached to the applicant's application and be visible to judges for review.

Who created the Award?

Mary S. Sigourney, a licensed psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist established the Award upon her death in 1988.   

Why did Mary Sigourney create the Award?

Mary Sigourney understood the significant contributions and lasting benefits of psychoanalysis, its ability to reduce human suffering and its value to understanding human affairs. Ms. Sigourney was concerned about the future of psychoanalysis and wanted to see it move beyond the walls of the consulting room. She felt that by recognizing outstanding contributions to the field of psychoanalysis and related disciplines, it would encourage new activity. 

What do Recipients receive?

Recipients join an outstanding group of past Award winners who are globally recognized as leaders in their field. Each recipient also receives a substantial monetary prize and extensive web and social media exposure in the professional community and general public.

How much is the monetary award?

The amount of the monetary award varies from year to year depending on a number of factors including the number of recipients chosen by the judges for that year and tax requirements. The Awards have typically ranged from $20,000 to $40,000 US dollars.

Are there any restrictions on the Recipient’s use of the monetary award?

There are no restrictions on use of the monetary prize and recipients have complete discretion as to how they use the funds. 

How many Awards have been given?

There have been 145 Awards since the Sigourney Award Trust began accepting applications in 1989, 19 to organizations, 2 to teams and 124 to individuals. Awards were given for the first time in 1990.

Is The Sigourney Award associated with any particular psychoanalytic organization?

No. Mary Sigourney wanted the Trust and the award to be protected as much as possible from political pressures. She appreciated the work that organizations do, and she wanted to ensure that the Trust and the Award remained separate and distinct from these organizations in order to maintain its freedom. Concerned that establishment psychoanalysts were preserving a closed system of training and practice with insufficient attention to applied psychoanalysis and research, Ms. Sigourney established the independent Trust.

What are the basic criteria for the Award?

The Award honors recipients’ work completed in the ten years preceding the award year, not future work. An applicant's accomplishments should be insightful or groundbreaking, advance the understanding or evolution of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought, and advance the public good.

Judges look at whether a applicant’s work advances The Sigourney Award's vision and mission and

• expands the reach of psychoanalytic principles, treatment, or thought in a specific region, population, or the world, and/or

• increases positive public awareness of psychoanalytic principles, and/or

• uses psychoanalytic principles to transform the human experience for the better, and/or

• represents a significant contribution to psychoanalysis and/or psychoanalytic principles, and/or

• brings innovation to the field of psychoanalytic treatment or theory and/or

• applies psychoanalytic principles beyond psychoanalysis, including but not limited to art, journalism, medicine, science, and social justice

Who established the criteria for the Award?

Mary Sigourney established the Award criteria.

Is the Sigourney Award a lifetime achievement award?

No. Judges look for a substantial body of outstanding work performed during the ten years preceding the award year.

Is the Award only given to individuals?

No. Organizations and groups are also eligible and have received the Award. 

Who is eligible for the Award?

The Trust encourages and seeks broad diversity among its applicants and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), sex, gender, gender expression or identity, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, or military status.

Who is not eligible for the Award?

No individual is eligible for the Award if he or she is currently serving, or has served during the preceding year, as an officer of any national or international psychoanalytic association. No current or former Trustee of The Sigourney Trust is eligible for the Award. Past Award Recipients are not eligible.

Is the Award limited to one type of psychoanalytic activity?

No. The Trust recognizes outstanding work that:

• applies psychoanalysis or  psychoanalytic principles to other fields and disciplines including anthropology, arts and humanities, child development, criminology, law, medicine, philosophy, psychology, and sociology;

• applies psychoanalysis or psychoanalytic principles to advance the public good and/or

• uses psychoanalytic principles to transform the human experience for the better.

What is the overall application and award procedure?

Applications are accepted between March 1 and July 31. An anonymous panel of judges meets once the application process closes to select that year’s recipients. Up to four individuals, organizations, or groups whose work has been judged exceptional are notified of the judges’ decision. The recipients are publicly announced in November. 

How do I request letters of support?

Letters of Support are requested as part of the online application. After completing a summary paragraph, applicants provide contact information for two supporters. The supporter will receive a link via email and respond to a series of questions regarding the applicant's work. Once the form is complete, the supporter will submit it. The letter of support will automatically be attached to the applicant's application and be visible to judges for review.

What do applicants need to apply? 

View the apply page or go directly to the application portal.   

When are applications due?

Applications are accepted between March 1 and July 31.    

Must all application materials be in English?

We encourage application materials to be in English. However, submissions are welcomed in any language supported by Google Translate. Judging of submissions will be conducted in English leveraging Google Translate.

When are the Award recipients announced?

The recipients are publicly announced in November of the award year. 

Can I find out who applied in a particular year?

No. The names of nominees are confidential and not released publicly.

Who determines the number of recipients each year?

The judges determine the number of recipients, up to four.

How are the judges chosen?

• The Trustees annually appoint a three to five judge panel.

• The Trustees seek individuals who are fair and open minded and not beholden to any particular applicant, theoretical perspective, or geographic region, with a goal of creating a panel that is unbiased and geographically and professionally diverse.

• An effort is made to include an individual who has a professional identification outside of clinical psychoanalysis.

Who are the judges?

The identity of the judges is strictly confidential and not released publicly. 

What is the judging procedure?

• The Trust has established a judge training and evaluation criteria to support the judges in objectively evaluating applications.

• Each nomination packet is evaluated independently by each judge.

• Submissions are ranked based the application’s strength, using an objective scale. 

Why are the geographic rotations being shifted?

Mary Sigourney’s original vision was to reward ground-breaking psychoanalytic principles across academic, humanitarian, and arts-focused fields, worldwide. In addition, she sought to attract individuals across gender, race, culture, location, and professional categories. Shifting the focus from regional applications to international applications will help the Trust realize her vision by expanding awareness of The Sigourney Award worldwide and ensuring greater applicant diversity. 2019 and 2020 were transitional years as The Sigourney Trust shifted the three-year geographic rotation to an annual international call for applications.  

2019
Applications were accepted from around the world. Up to two awards were open only to European nominees. Up to two awards were open to applicants from anywhere in the world.

2020
Applications were accepted from around the world. Up to two awards were open only to Latin American applicants. Up to three awards were open to applicants from anywhere in the world. In 2020, applications from Latin America were accepted in Spanish, Portuguese, English, and any language supported by Google Translate.

2021
Applications were accepted from anywhere in the world with no geographic designation assigned.

The two transitional years enabled the Trust to confirm the new changes:

• better assured Mary Sigourney’s goal of a global Award; 

• reduced the tendency of favoring the status quo;

• better included emerging countries and non-traditional applications of psychoanalysis;

• was less complicated--applicants no longer needed to track where their country was in the geographic cycle and can now apply in any year;

• allowed recognition of applicants whose impact and work are international and not limited to a particular geographic area;

• Assured that recipients receive global, rather than limited regional, recognition;

• enabled us to better reach potential applicants on an ongoing basis—technology now makes it easier to expand to communicate to a larger pool of applicants; and

• eliminated limiting geographic categories that did not represent the international nature of the Award that Mary Sigourney established. 

Can an organization, group or individual apply for the Award any year regardless of geographic location?

Yes.

We want to submit work that was done by a group of people, but we are not an official organization. How do we do that? 

• The award will recognize the group’s work rather than individual’s work within the group.

• Determine what you wish to call your group and use that for the Group Name in the application. 

• Decide who will be the primary contact for the group and provide their contact information in the application.  

• Note the additional group member’s names within the application. 

• If the group wins, the primary contact is responsible for distributing the funds to the group. 

How does the Trust ensure that an applicant from a country that has a small or lesser known psychoanalytic community can fairly compete with applicants from more established psychoanalytic communities? 

The Award takes very seriously the need to judge an applicant’s contribution to enhancing progress for the psychoanalytic community both by world-wide standards and by local standards. In response to the tension between judging globally and locally, the Award is taking the following steps:        

• The judges’ panels will be globally diverse and include those who work with innovative applications of psychoanalysis;

• Judges will be provided with objective standards for the Award; and

• The Trustees and judges will monitor for unconscious bias regarding issues of region, gender, race and theoretical orientation.

Who do I contact if I have questions about the Award?

The Trustees - visit Contact.

What is the role of the Advisory Council?

The Advisory Council expands the reach and outlook of the Trust. It serves as a sounding board for the Trustees and advises the Trustees as requested. 

Who appoints the Advisory Council?

The Trustees appoint the Advisory Council.

Who is currently on the Advisory Council?

Ines Bayona Villegas, Stefano Bolognini, Peter Fonagy, Glen Gabbard, Maria Teresa Savio Hook, Mark Solms

Who are the Trustees?

The Trust has two Trustee positions, one held by a distinguished psychoanalyst and one held by an attorney with experience and appreciation of the fiduciary duties of a trustee. The current Trustees are Dr. Robin A. Deustch, PhD and Barbara Sherland, JD.