Honoring Outstanding Psychoanalytic Work Worldwide
Recognizing Transformative Contributions
Since 1990, The Sigourney Award Trust has recognized groundbreaking work that advances psychoanalytic thought and brings its insights to bear on human affairs. Each year, an international panel of judges selects work that embodies founder Mary Sigourneyโs vision of psychoanalysis as a living, evolving discipline. This yearโs submissions came from 23 countries, and the four honored bodies of work span the globe: treating children amid ongoing war in Gaza, protecting children from incest and sexual abuse in Argentina, bridging divides of race and difference in the United States, and advancing psychoanalytic research and treatment in the United Kingdom. Explore the work below.
โThis yearโs honored work engages people in new ways, through psychoanalytic methods and meaningful action. Each body of work shows psychoanalysis doing what it does best: restoring trust, meaning, and human connection.โ
โ Robin A. Deutsch, PhD, Analyst Co-Trustee.
The Sigourney Award-2026
The Sigourney Award-2026
Salem Eid Al-Arjani, PhD
GAZA, PALESTINE
Dr. Al-Arjaniโs cutting-edge work, conducted amid ongoing war in Gaza, has redefined resilience as the capacity to imagine, find meaning, and stay connected while danger continues for the analyst and patient, building a new framework for psychoanalytic treatment of trauma in extreme frontiers.
Paula Christian-Kliger, PhD, ABPP
NEW YORK, USA
Dr. Christian-Kligerโs extraordinary interdisciplinary work has forged a model that fuses psychoanalysis with art and Buddhist practice, changing not only individual lives but how organizations and communities function, and opening honest dialogue across race, culture, and difference.
Juan-Eduardo Tesone, MD, PhD
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Dr. Tesoneโs pioneering work has confronted incest and child sexual abuse, a subject psychoanalysis long kept at a distance, and translated that understanding into a prevention program protecting schoolchildren in Argentina.
University College London
Psychoanalysis Unit
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
The University College London Psychoanalysis Unitโs groundbreaking work has put psychoanalytic ideas to rigorous scientific testing, developing effective treatments for some of the hardest-to-treat patients while preserving the depth that makes them psychoanalytic.
โThe work of judging, as arduous as it was rewarding, expanded my knowledge regarding contemporary psychoanalytic thought and principles.โ
โ The Sigourney Award Judge, 2026
Maryโs Mindset: Reward & Inspire
Mary Sigourney wanted to reward and inspire great work from every corner of the world. Emeritus Trustee Jim Devine shares Maryโs expansive and inclusion vision in this video. If your work, has reshaped understanding, sparked dialogue, influenced culture, or transformed lives through psychoanalytic principles or thought, we invite you to step forward and apply.
Myth or Truth
For more than three decades, The Sigourney Award has honored exceptional contributions to the field of psychoanalysis on a global scale. Mary Sigourneyโs independent trust established an Award to acknowledge and foster the integration of psychoanalytic concepts across various disciplines.
Our mission is to inspire individuals worldwide to either submit their work for consideration or nominate others whose contributions stand out. As members of The Sigourney Awardโs Volunteer Advisory Council, we hope to offer facts that dispel untruths and help broaden worldwide recognition of the Award.
2024 Advisory Council
Ines Bayona Villegas, Columbia | Stefano Bolognini, MD, Italy | Peter Fonagy PhD, United Kingdom | Glen Gabbard, MD, United States | Maria Teresa Savio Hooke, OAM, Australia | Mark Solms, MD, PhD, South Africa
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Contrary to the belief that The Sigourney Award is a culmination of a lifetimeโs work, it is not a lifetime achievement award. Mary Sigourney stipulated that the award should recognize work accomplished within the decade preceding the award year, making it accessible to a broader range of professionals at various stages of their careers.
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While nominations are welcomed and valued, eligibility for The Sigourney Award is not contingent upon nomination by peers within the psychoanalytic community. Self-nominated and peer-nominated applicants undergo the same comprehensive evaluation process.
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Actually, The Sigourney Award honors contributions that employ psychoanalytic concepts in innovative ways across a diverse array of fields. Work eligible for consideration may include achievements in academic research, clinical practice, and other disciplines such as anthropology, the arts, child development, criminology, law, medicine, philosophy, psychology, and sociology.
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The work needs to be outstanding or innovative, not necessarily well-known. The Sigourney Awardโs application process is designed to help applicants describe the impact of their work and how it has advanced psychoanalytic thought or principles within the ten year period prior to the Award.
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The work needs to be outstanding or innovative, The Sigourney Award is not restricted by geographic region or language barriers. The application process now accommodates submissions in over 150 languages. The Sigourney Awardโs application process is designed to help applicants describe the impact of their work and how it has advanced psychoanalytic thought or principles within the ten year period prior to the Award.
In Their Own Words
Learn more about the diverse work of our honorees in these brief videos.
Welcoming the World
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Welcoming the World *
Click the red โtranslateโ button below to view The Sigourney Award website in any of these languages: Chinese: ็นๅปไธ้ข็็บข่ฒ็ฟป่ฏๆ้ฎ French: cliquez sur le bouton de traduction rouge ci-dessous German: klicken Sie auf die rote รbersetzungsschaltflรคche unten Italian: clicca sul pulsante rosso traduci qui sotto Japanese: ไธใฎ่ตคใ็ฟป่จณใใฟใณใใฏใชใใฏใใฆใใ ใใ Portuguese: clique no botรฃo vermelho traduzir abaixo Spanish: haga clic en el botรณn rojo de traducir a continuaciรณn
Apply in 2027
Applicants are encouraged submit work that applies or contributes psychoanalytic principles to medicine, psychiatry, other sciences, the arts, literature, or film. Applications will be accepted from all geographic locations starting March 1, 2027.
Extraordinary Work From Around the Globe
Our community of honorees represent the forward-thinking that founder Mary Sigourney envisioned. Explore the impact made by past Award Recipientโs work.
Sigourney News
