Should psychoanalysis be in the Science Museum?

"The Science Museum has never set itself up as a gatekeeper, deciding what is science and what is not. As a museum, we have a wide-ranging interest in many forms of scientific culture. Our great collections represent diverse technologies and practices as well as research. This has been the basis of our approach to medicine since we accepted responsibility for the care of the Wellcome Collections on the History of Medicine in the 1970s.

So where does psychoanalysis fit in? With 1 in 4 people in the UK formally diagnosed with a mental illness during their lifetime, the subject of mental and emotional well-being has never been more relevant. We have therefore taken a number of major initiatives in this area.

We have a long-standing relationship with the British Psychological Society, which sponsors our curator of psychology. Our recently reopened biomedical gallery "Who Am I?" deals with neuroscience, among other things. The psychoanalysis exhibition, sponsored by the Institute of Psychoanalysis, is part of a diverse, balanced approach to the study of the mind.

Psychoanalysis has moved well beyond the work of its founder, Sigmund Freud. The exhibition takes place at a time when there are fruitful discussions between neuroscientists and psychoanalysts about the relationship between the concept of the non-conscious, as explored by the former, and the unconscious, as described by the latter.

Interest in the effectiveness of a range of treatments based on psychoanalytic concepts and methods is also very active. Psychiatrist Jonathan Shedler of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver recently reviewed a wide range of published meta-analyses of therapeutic outcomes (American Psychologist, vol 65, p 98). He concluded that empirical evidence supports the efficacy of these treatments. Psychoanalysis is also the subject of serious academic discussions within well-known departments such as the Psychoanalysis Unit at University College London.

Our new exhibition aims to introduce the subject to a non-specialist audience. The focus will be on the unconscious, treated in both its therapeutic and cultural context. We aim to engage visitors through a blend of historical and modern objects, visual and audio displays and artworks by artists including Grayson Perry and Noble and Webster.

The exhibition will be a powerful experience that will prompt thought and inform discussion. We anticipate this debate will be the first of many.

Psychoanalysis: The unconscious in everyday life opens on 13 October and runs until April 2011. The museum's Dana Centre will hold an associated discussion series. For more information visit sciencemuseum.org.uk"

Read more at New Scientist (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)