About this event

Turning a Deaf Ear: Impediments to Listening in the Clinical Situation

The Edinburgh Conference on 13th June 2026 is the second in-person conference IOPA will hold in Edinburgh. Listening is at the heart of our work with people in psychic distress however there are times when the way we listen to and hear those we work with is hindered or can be distorted. The topic Turning a deaf ear: impediments to listening in the clinical situation seeks to explore these impediments which can stem from diverse and often unconscious beliefs, affects and drives alive between the patient and ourselves.

This event encourages participants to forge new links with psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and all clinicians working with adults and children and those interested in this topic from the UK and abroad.

Conference Chair: Elizabeth Coates Thümmel, President of IOPA

On Not Wanting to Hear. 

Speaker: Vic Sedlak

Chair: Anuradha Menon

This paper will explore those occasions in an analysis in which the analyst chooses not to hear the patient's unconscious communication for fear of his or her countertransference. Clinical examples illustrate the dilemma and its possible working through by the analyst.

'Putting the World to Rights'. An Adolescent Girl's Struggle with Bitter Disappointment and Anger. 

Speaker: Christine English

Chair: Hannah Solemani

Outline to follow.

Who's Ear is it Anyway?

Speaker: Avi Shmueli

Chair: Brian O Neill

Outline to follow.

This conference is supported by the Susan Emery Trust, which promotes further education, research and improved practice in the field of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Scotland. The Susan Emery Trust will support psychoanalytic trainees, mental health and associated staff who require financial assistance to be able to attend the conference by offering a number of places with a £75 discount.

Vic Sedlak is a Training and Supervising Analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society and was its President from 2022 to 2025. He has also been Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis in Kyoto University, Japan and is an Honorary member of the Polish Psychoanalytic Society. He has a private practice in Yorkshire and regularly teaches and lectures in Europe and North America. He is the author of 'The Psychoanalyst's Superegos, Ego Ideals and Blind Spots', in The New Library of Psychoanalysis Series Published by Routledge in 2019.

Dr Anuradha Menon is a Fellow of the British Psychoanalytic Society and a Consultant in Liaison Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy in the NHS. She leads the Tier 3 Psychological service in Bariatrics and also works in the confidential counselling service for trainee doctors and dentists Yorkshire (Take Time). She has a private analytic practice in Leeds.

Christine English is a child, adolescent and adult psychoanalyst in private practice in South Oxfordshire, and a Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society (BPAS). She is an Honorary Associate Professor of the Psychoanalysis Unit, University College London, Archivist of the Melanie Klein Trust, Chair of the Archives Committee of the BPAS, and a member of the Archives Committee of the European Psychoanalytic Federation. She is author of Melanie Klein's Narrative of an Adult Analysis, published by Routledge in 2023. 

Hannah Solemani is a Training and Supervising Analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society. She works in private practice in London and for 25 years she has worked at the Brent Centre for Young People, seeing adolescents and supervising staff. She is currently Chair of the Student Progress Committee for the British Society as well as teaching and supervising extensively both here and abroad. 

Dr Brian O Neill is a Fellow and a Training and Supervising Analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society. He has been active in many aspects of the Society's Psychoanalytical Training programme, and is a past Chair of the Society's Scientific Committee.

Avi Shmueli - biography to follow.

Full running order to follow. Lunch will be provided.

Cancellation policy for this event: Tickets are fully refundable until 14 days before the lecture, after which time no refunds will be issued.

Views and opinions expressed by speakers are their own and do not represent the views or opinions of the Institute, event organisers or other speakers. We expect delegates to respect the confidentiality of clinical material discussed in our events. The content must not be recorded, conveyed or disseminated in any format and participants must not share access to the event with non-registered participants.