University College London Psychoanalysis Unit’s Work Wins The Sigourney Award-2026 for Demonstrating How Psychoanalytic Thought Can Transform Health Care, Scholarship, and Culture
San Francisco, CA – Nov. 10, 2026 – Work by the University College London Psychoanalysis Unit (London, UK) is being recognized with The Sigourney Award-2026 for outstanding achievements that advance psychoanalytic thought and application, according to Robin A. Deutsch, PhD, Analyst Co-Trustee of The Sigourney Award Trust. The Unit’s work was one of four selected for the Award’s international recognition after an anonymous panel of distinguished judges reviewed a record number of applications from 23 countries.
“The University College London Psychoanalysis Unit makes an exceptional contribution to the contemporary development of psychoanalysis, transforming psychoanalytic concepts into carefully tested, clinically effective frameworks for understanding and treating complex mental health conditions,” says Deutsch.
Since 2016, under the leadership of Director Dr. Elizabeth Allison, the University College London Psychoanalysis Unit has done what many believed psychoanalysis could not: subject psychoanalytic ideas to rigorous scientific testing without stripping away what makes them genuinely psychoanalytic. The Unit’s team of researchers and clinicians developed and tested Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT), which strengthens mentalizing, the capacity to understand ourselves and others in terms of thoughts and feelings. In a landmark trial published in The Lancet Psychiatry in 2025, men on probation with antisocial personality disorder who received MBT showed significantly less aggression than a comparison group and committed significantly fewer offenses over three years. The Unit has also placed the breakdown of epistemic trust at the heart of contemporary social and political dysfunction, illustrating how the work is a living research program rather than a finished product.
Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy, developed and tested by Psychoanalysis Unit researchers and clinicians, is now recognized by England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and funded as a national treatment within the National Health Service (NHS). Unit members have also shaped policy at the highest levels, advising NICE on clinical guidelines and providing national clinical leadership within NHS England.
Integrating theoretical inquiry, empirical research, and clinical practice, the Unit has trained more than 260 master’s and doctoral students since 2016. Its 56 conferences, seminars, webinars, and exhibitions have reached an estimated 10,800 participants from 60 countries, including 26 free public seminars on topics ranging from dreaming and bereavement to childhood verbal abuse and epistemic trust.
The Unit has also brought psychoanalysis to the public through art. Students from UCL’s Slade School of Fine Art and the University of the Arts London exhibited work inspired by psychoanalysis at the Freud Museum in London, in exhibitions exploring secrecy (2017) and melancholia (2020). Lockdown Dreams, an animated film series drawn from more than 500 dreams recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, translates psychoanalytic ideas about dreaming into accessible visual stories. Together, these projects make psychoanalytic ideas something audiences can see and feel, widening public appreciation of psychoanalysis beyond clinical and academic circles.
“We are deeply honored. This award recognizes the work of many colleagues who have shown that psychoanalytic ideas can be rigorously tested and still remain true to their depth,” says Dr. Elizabeth Allison, Director of the University College London Psychoanalysis Unit, who will accept the award on the Unit’s behalf.
“The Unit’s work supports Mary Sigourney’s vision by carrying psychoanalytic principles from empirical science into health policy, and by advancing education and awareness of psychoanalysis around the world. We applaud its contributions,” says Michael J. Harrington, JD, Attorney Co-Trustee of The Sigourney Award Trust.