About Us

The San Francisco Society for Lacanian Studies was founded in the mid 1980’s by a group of Bay Area clinicians and scholars interested in bringing Lacan’s theories into clinical practice. Dr. Andre Patsalides of the University of Louvain in Belgium would lead a yearly seminar and study groups on topics such as Lacan’s Four Discourses and the Transference. The San Francisco Society for Lacanian Studies was the first organization of its kind in the Bay Area and attracted clinicians and scholars from many other schools and institutes. In 1991, some Society members founded what is now the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis. The Society, ever vibrant, has continued to offer teachings on Lacanian psychoanalysis, theory, technique and application to art and society. Past offerings of the Society have included presentations by scholars such as Paola Mieli, Bice Benvenuto, Jean-Pierre Klotz, Slavoj Zizek, Bruce Fink, Ellie Ragland and many others. A film presentation and discussion program, a Second Look, has screened such films as Run, Lola, Run, AI, and Eyes Wide Shut. As part of its scientific arm, the Society has offered Symposia where members and invited guests present their research papers. The Society welcomes you to be a part of its teachings.