The SFCP Library

The SFCP Library

The SFCP Library supports the research of faculty, candidates, and community members at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. Library users can access the collection in several ways—by visiting the physical library, browsing our online catalog, using our online resources, or making requests via email and phone.

The library contains over 13,000 items. Some of these resources cover psychotherapy and psychology in general, but the majority relate specifically to the study of psychoanalysis. The Library holds a non-circulating reference journal collection of roughly 160 titles, which contains material related to subject areas within psychoanalysis: child psychiatry, gender studies, and specific theoretical orientations in the field (such as Klein, Bion, and Lacan). Patrons can visit the library in person or receive requested books through mail, and receive journal articles or book chapters through mail or email. A full list of our services is available at our services page.

Journals are some of the most heavily used items in the Center’s collection. In addition to the Library’s long list of reference journals (which can also be found on SFCP’s online catalog), the Library maintains circulation copies of several titles as well: the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, JAPA,Psychoanalytic Quarterly, and the Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. Circulating journals provide members and candidates with the convenience of borrowing a current copy for offsite research use.

SFCP is a member of the Northern California Consortium of Psychological Libraries and the San Francisco Biomedical Library Network. These memberships provide us with free interlibrary loan service, giving SFCP patrons the convenience of accessing material from most of the Bay Area’s psychological libraries for a nominal fee (the SFCP Library charges patrons only $5.00 for this service to cover staff time spent searching area libraries’ catalogs for requested material). SFCP is part of the National Library of Medicine’s Docline service, which enables us to obtain articles that are unavailable through local consortiums via this national service.

New to the Library?

Check out our user guide for a comprehensive overview of what the library has to offer and how to access it. Please feel free to contact the library if you have any questions.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, April 13, 2024
Visiting Professor Weekend
The Role of the Analyst
Darian Leader (presenter); Jeanne Wolff-Bernsterin, PhD (discussant); Patricia Marra, MFT (moderator)
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Visiting Professor Weekend
Professor’s Choice with Darian Leader
On “Constructions in Analysis”
Darian Leader (presenter); Israel Katz, MD (moderator)
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Child Colloquium Series
Lives Across Time, Part 2: The Clinical and Attachment Implications of a Prospective Psychoanalytic Longitudinal Study of 76 People from Birth
Henry Massie, MD and Nathan Szajnberg, MD (presenters); Bart Blinder, MD, PhD (discussant); Courtney Hartman, PsyD (moderator)
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Child Colloquium Series
Film Screening and Discussion: A House Made of Splinters (2022)
Reyna Cowan, PsyD, LCSW (discussant)
Monday, May 6, 2024
Scientific Meetings
Freud in his Psychosocial Generation: Durkheim, Simmel, Weber and Du Bois
Nancy Chodorow, PhD (presenter)
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Psychoanalytic Education Division
Graduation Ceremony and Reception 2024
Jim Dimon, MD (graduation speaker)
Wednesdays, May 22, 2024 to June 12, 2024
Psychoanalytic Student Seminars
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Psychoanalytic Theory, and Trans Experience(s)
Loïc Pritchard, MFT (instructor)
Saturday, June 8, 2024
Dialogues in Contemporary Psychoanalysis
A Psychoanalytic Playlist with Sasha Frere-Jones
Sasha Frere-Jones (interviewee); Adam Blum, PsyD (interviewer); Elizabeth Bradshaw, PsyD (moderator)
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