History of EJP

The European Journal of Psychoanalysis (EJP) was founded by Sergio Benvenuto in New York in 1995. Originally titled the Journal of European Psychoanalysis (JEP), it was renamed European Journal of Psychoanalysis (EJP) in 2007. In 2013 the journal appeared in its current form as “EJΨ. European Journal of Psychoanalysis”. It is published online by the Instituto Elvio Fachinelli – ISAP (Institute for Advanced Studies in Psychoanalysis) and the FCP (Foundation of California Psychoanalysis). Starting in late 2019, Fernando Castrillón took over the reins as editor-in-chief.

Since its inception, EJP’s main aim has been that of facilitating exchange and conversation across linguistic, cultural, and perceived theoretical barriers. The privileged link psychoanalysis has to speech does not necessarily facilitate communication among analysts, psychotherapists, and philosophers operating in different written languages and clinical orientations. The European Journal of Psychoanalysis seeks to overcome these barriers by introducing English readers to important European, South American, North American, Middle Eastern, Indian, and North African authors, as well as debates and trends within psychoanalysis and other related fields, particularly philosophy, literature, humanities and contemporary social thought more broadly. The EJP continues to advance its primary mission with dedicated sections in Italian, Russian and Spanish (forthcoming in 2022).

The European Journal of Psychoanalysis also includes political, anthropological, and historical contributions. Psychoanalysis has practical, ethical, and theoretical implications relevant not only for clinical practice, but also for social policy, philosophy, cultural studies, and the social sciences.  The journal provides an international forum for the exploration of the frontiers of psychoanalytic inquiry, giving voice to diverse perspectives, research, and clinical practice which link and transform its many partial understandings.

The journal is not the official organ of any particular school or theoretical orientation, preferring instead to provoke exchange between often alienated sub-fields and areas of inquiry. We are broad-based and fiercely independent. Material is chosen solely in terms of quality, originality, and relevance to enduring and topical international debates in psychotherapeutic and psychoanalytic fields, particularly as it relates to lived clinical practice. Similarly, significant, hard-to-pigeonhole authors and works falling outside of any particular trend are also presented. As such, we have been able to publish works by the leading lights of the field for over 26 years.