American Federation of Lacanian‑Oriented Psychoanalysis

American Federation of Lacanian-Oriented Psychoanalysis
Organization details
Type	Continental Federation of Psychoanalytic Schools
Founded	2010s (exact year uncertain)
Founder(s)	Associated Lacanian Schools of the Americas
Key figures	Éric Laurent, Jacques-Alain Miller, Members of WAP-affiliated schools
Orientation	Lacanian
Institutional context
Affiliation	World Association of Psychoanalysis (WAP)
Operations
Headquarters	Multiple locations across the Americas
Geographic scope	Continental (North, Central, South America, and Caribbean)
Training function	Cartel, The Pass, Seminars, Supervision
Publications	Varies by member school
Website	https://fapol.org/

The American Federation of Lacanian-Oriented Psychoanalysis (Spanish: Federación Americana de Psicoanálisis de la Orientación Lacaniana; Portuguese: Federação Americana de Psicanálise de Orientação Lacaniana), commonly known by its acronym FAPOL, is a transnational psychoanalytic organization dedicated to the transmission, clinical practice, and institutional defense of the teachings of Jacques Lacan throughout the American continent. Established in its current formal structure in January 2012, FAPOL operates as the regional federative body of the World Association of Psychoanalysis (WAP).

FAPOL coordinates the activities of three major psychoanalytic schools: the Escuela de la Orientación Lacaniana (EOL) in Argentina, the Escola Brasileira de Psicanálise (EBP) in Brazil, and the Nueva Escuela Lacaniana (NEL), which encompasses several countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. It serves as the American counterpart to the EuroFederation of Psychoanalysis (EFP) and acts as an intermediate structure between the individual national schools and the global WAP. The federation's mission is defined by the "Lacanian Orientation"—a clinical and institutional framework developed by Jacques-Alain Miller that emphasizes fidelity to Lacan’s rigor while engaging with the social, legislative, and political challenges of the 21st century.

Historical Context and Foundation

The Freudian Field and the WAP

The origins of FAPOL are rooted in the global reorganization of Lacanian psychoanalysis following the dissolution of Lacan’s École Freudienne de Paris (EFP) in 1980. Jacques-Alain Miller subsequently established the "Freudian Field" (Campo Freudiano) to provide an institutional framework for the international Lacanian movement. In 1992, the World Association of Psychoanalysis was founded in Buenos Aires to group the various Lacanian schools emerging in Europe and Latin America.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Lacanian psychoanalysis experienced explosive growth in the Americas, particularly in the Southern Cone. This led to the creation of the Escuela de la Orientación Lacaniana (EOL) in 1992 and the Escola Brasileira de Psicanálise (EBP) in 1995. In 2000, the Nueva Escuela Lacaniana (NEL) was founded to integrate practitioners in countries where the Lacanian movement was still emerging or dispersed, such as Mexico, Colombia, and Peru.

Formalization in 2012

While cooperation between these American schools had existed for decades, the formal creation of FAPOL was inspired by the success of the EuroFederation of Psychoanalysis (established in 2010). The need for a unified American voice became urgent due to the rise of the "evaluation culture" and legislative efforts in several Latin American countries to restrict psychoanalytic practice in favor of standardized, behavioral treatments.

FAPOL was officially launched during the VIII Congress of the WAP in Buenos Aires in April 2012. Its founding represented a shift toward a more robust political and cultural presence for psychoanalysis in the Americas, moving beyond the consulting room to engage with the public sphere.

Institutional Structure

FAPOL is not a "School" in the technical Lacanian sense—meaning it does not directly grant titles or manage the formation of individual analysts—but rather a federation that coordinates autonomous schools. It respects the local statutes and sovereignty of its member institutions while ensuring a shared continental policy.

Member Schools (The Three Pillars)

The federation is built upon three primary institutional pillars:

• Escuela de la Orientación Lacaniana (EOL): Based in Argentina, the EOL is one of the most significant psychoanalytic institutions in the world. It maintains a profound influence on Argentine culture and mental health policy, with major sections in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Rosario.
• Escola Brasileira de Psicanálise (EBP): Responsible for the Lacanian movement in Brazil, the EBP operates across a linguistically and geographically distinct territory, maintaining several regional sections (e.g., São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais).
• Nueva Escuela Lacaniana (NEL): A decentralized, transnational school with branches in Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. The NEL also maintains a presence in the United States through its "Lacanian Compass" initiatives and Miami-based groups.

The Concept of "School One"

A central principle guiding FAPOL is the concept of the School One (Escuela Una). Coined within the WAP, this concept posits that despite different languages (Spanish, Portuguese, English) and legal contexts, all members of these schools belong to a single, borderless working community. This unity is maintained through a shared clinical reference to Lacan’s later teachings and common institutional devices.

Clinical Formation and Devices

FAPOL-affiliated schools follow the Lacanian model of analytic formation, which rejects standardized university-style curricula in favor of a tripartite structure: personal analysis, clinical supervision, and theoretical study.

The Cartel

The primary organ of research and study within FAPOL is the cartel. Proposed by Lacan in his 1964 Founding Act, the cartel is a small group of four individuals plus a "Plus-One" (Plus-Un) who gather to work on a specific theme for a limited duration (usually one to two years). This structure is designed to prevent the formation of rigid hierarchies and the "master-disciple" dynamics often found in institutional settings.

The Pass (Pase)

FAPOL supports the Pass, a procedure established by Lacan to investigate how an analysand transitions into an analyst. The process involves a candidate (the "passant") providing testimony of their analysis to "passers" (passeurs), who then convey this testimony to a jury. If the jury finds evidence of a "desire of the analyst," the candidate is nominated as an Analyst of the School (Analyste de l’École or AE) for a three-year term, during which they are tasked with transmitting their findings to the community.

Titles and Gradus

The federation recognizes two distinct institutional titles for analysts:

• Analyst Member of the School (AME): A title granted to analysts who have demonstrated clinical competence and institutional commitment.
• Analyst of the School (AE): A title granted via the Pass to those who can provide theoretical testimony regarding the end of an analysis.

Major Activities and Public Presence

ENAPOL (The American Encounter)

The hallmark event of FAPOL is the Encuentro Americano de Psicoanálisis de la Orientación Lacaniana (ENAPOL). Held biennially, this congress alternates locations across the Americas and serves as a vital forum for clinical exchange. Each ENAPOL focuses on a theme relevant to contemporary subjectivity:

• IX ENAPOL (2019, São Paulo): Focused on "Hate, Anger, and Indignation."
• X ENAPOL (2021, Virtual): Addressed "The New in Love: Contemporary Modalities of Bonds."
• XI ENAPOL (2023, Buenos Aires): Focused on the clinical beginnings of treatment ("Starting to Analyze").

The Observatories

To fulfill its mission of defending psychoanalysis in the social field, FAPOL maintains several specialized Observatories. These committees monitor social phenomena and legislative changes, providing Lacanian perspectives on:

• Autism: Defending the rights of autistic subjects against mandatory behavioral treatments and supporting the "singular" approach of psychoanalysis.
• Gender and Sexuality: Analyzing contemporary shifts in identity and the "evaporation of the father" in the 21st-century symbolic order.
• Violence and Social Precarity: Examining the subjective roots of contemporary social unrest and segregation in the Americas.

Specialized Networks

FAPOL facilitates collaboration through various networks that link psychoanalysis with other disciplines:

• RUA (Red Universitaria Americana): Connects analysts working within university departments and academic research.
• REAL (Red de Infancia): A network dedicated to the clinical treatment of children and adolescents.
• RPA (Red de Psicoanálisis y Abuso): Focuses on the clinical response to trauma and sexual abuse.

Political Action: "Action Lacanienne"

In recent years, FAPOL has increasingly practiced "Lacanian Action," a term referring to the intervention of analysts in the political and cultural debates of the day. This is a direct response to the "discourse of the master" in contemporary society, which seeks to quantify human experience through statistics and standardized evaluations.

FAPOL positions psychoanalysis as a "subversive" discourse that prioritizes the "Real" and the unique symptom of the individual over the generic categories of DSM-style psychiatry. This has led the federation to take public stances in Brazil and Argentina regarding mental health laws, arguing for the preservation of the "singular case" in public health policy.

Publications

The Federation maintains a robust editorial presence, primarily through digital and academic channels:

• *Lacan XXI*: The flagship digital journal of FAPOL, providing rapid-response analysis of current events and clinical reports from across the continent.
• *Cythère?*: The official journal of the RUA (University Network), facilitating dialogue between the "School discourse" and the "University discourse."
• Member schools also publish highly regarded journals, such as Lacaniana (EOL), Opção Lacaniana (EBP), and Bitácora (NEL).

Leadership

FAPOL is led by a Board of Directors and a Council composed of the presidents of the EOL, EBP, and NEL. The presidency of FAPOL rotates among the member schools to ensure balanced regional representation. Notable figures who have played central roles in FAPOL’s leadership and development include Flory Kruger, Ricardo Seldes, Angelina Harari, and Graciela Brodsky. The federation maintains a direct line of coordination with the WAP presidency, currently held by Christiane Alberti.

See Also

• World Association of Psychoanalysis
• Jacques Lacan
• Jacques-Alain Miller
• Lacanian orientation
• Cartel (psychoanalysis)
• Pass (psychoanalysis)