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Reference to the [[history ]] of [[psychoanalysis ]] in Greece lends itself to [[reflection ]] along two different lines.

First, there is the history of events—that is, the [[diachronic ]] line of events that, between 1915 and the 1980s and 1990s, sustained the slow (and somewhat difficult, owing to discontinuities) establishment of a framework for the [[psychoanalytic ]] movement in Greece, with all of the consequences, both positive and [[negative]], that such a framework entailed for psychoanalytic circles. This [[chronology ]] shows that, around 1920, a circle of intellectuals and teachers were actively studying the works of Sigmund [[Freud ]] and publishing on practices in [[psychotherapy ]] and psychoanalysis. However, the [[official ]] medical [[community ]] and the broader [[public ]] remained indifferent or even hostile to these currents of [[thought]].

The [[active ]] [[presence ]] of Princess [[Marie Bonaparte ]] in Athens beginning in 1946 seemed to offer a way of changing things. The interest of academics and doctors was mobilized on the occasion of a visit by [[Anna Freud]], who was invited to Athens in 1949, but this lasted only for the short duration of her stay. Only two psychiatrists, Démétrios Kouretas and Georges Zavitzianos; a poet, Andreas Embirikos; and a physician, Nicolas Dracoulides, were interested in pursuing more in-depth psychoanalytic [[training]]. These four men formed a [[working ]] group, and, supported by Marie Bonaparte, were accepted as members of the Société psychanalytique de [[Paris ]] (Psychoanalytic [[Society ]] of Paris) in 1950. However, the group was to be short-lived: It disbanded a year later, the four [[analysts ]] having chosen to settle in [[three ]] different countries.

After the end of [[World ]] War II and the civil war that ravaged Greece, the creation of a few institutional, psychodynamically oriented [[mental ]] health centers made it feasible to organize lecture series, [[seminars]], and group discussions in Athens; these developments seemed to portend a possible new beginning for [[analytic ]] [[work]]. Colleagues from abroad—Serge Lebovici was the first—were prepared to offer assistance, beginning in 1957. Three Greek analysts working in different areas—Kouretas at the [[University ]] of Athens, Pangiotis Sakellaropoulos at the Center of Thétokos, and Anna Potamianou at the Center for Mental Health and Research—provided the impetus, as hopes for a new beginning took shape. And once again, the central [[figures ]] comprised two psychiatrists and one person from [[outside ]] of that field.

Numerous attempts to ensure sustained and systematic collaboration did not yield results. It was not until 1982, after countless efforts and failures, and with the [[help ]] of a group of analysts who had trained overseas (Athena Alexandris, Pierre Hartocollis, Stavroula Beratis), that a "Greek psychoanalytic group" gained [[formal ]] [[recognition ]] as a study group of the International Psychoanalytic [[Association ]] (IPA). This group, which includes four teaching analysts, ten members, eight corresponding members, and twenty-six candidates, was designated by election as an IPA member society in 2001.

Between 1989 and 1995, two groups inspired by the work of Jacques [[Lacan]], the [[Freudian ]] Praxis, and the Athenian Circle of the European [[School ]] of Psychoanalysis, as well as [[another ]] group whose members wished to remain independent of any school, were formed. Still two [[other ]] groups follow the [[teachings ]] of Alfred Adler. Thus, the diachronic axis in Greece reveals considerable oscillation between forward movement and movements of [[regression]]-[[repetition]], attesting to an [[unconscious]], but definite, fidelity to Freudian thought in connection with the [[psychic ]] trajectory of individuals and groups.

A second line of reflection brings out even more clearly the similarities between the course of [[development ]] of psychoanalysis in Greece and the very [[essence ]] of the Freudian [[Logos]]. Marked by a convergence between the [[Jewish ]] soul and the Hellenistic spirit, Freud's thought engraved a path of complementary opposites and constraints that mirrors the history of psychoanalysis in Greece. That history, it seems, is the fruit of conflicts whose unexpected [[violence ]] often astonished spectators; it is also the result of harsh schisms and mutilating projections, the revelatory details of which can be found in the writings of those involved in its difficult and laborious gestation.

Opposition and indifference arose within the group; analysts departed to seek training abroad. There were abortive attempts, productive convergences, jolts, and contacts. It is certain that the development of psychoanalysis was not exempt from tumultuous adventures in any country. However, it is equally certain that in this land that engendered what for Freud doubled as the [[alien ]] element of the unconscious—that is, the [[discourse ]] and [[myths ]] of the ancient Greeks—the constraint of [[rejection ]] and [[exclusion ]] of analytic thought exerted its influence for too long. There are a variety of reasons for this, and they have been studied and discussed by such authors as Gerosimos Stephanotos, Athanase and Hélène Tzavaras and Anna Potamianou. Currently, this constraint has been eased somewhat. For Freud, the journey leading to Athens was not easy; the price he paid in [[terms ]] of his autoanalysis was considerable. For Greek analysts today, there is certainly a price to be paid so that [[analysis ]] may "be" in their country.

With [[regard ]] to publications in Greek: Kouretas and Zavitzianos published numerous works, mainly concerning [[clinical ]] [[practice ]] and applied psychoanalysis. More recently, Greek [[psychoanalysts ]] have mostly tended to publish in the [[language ]] in which they received their training ([[English]], [[French]], or [[German]]), but numerous articles and several books, including four collaboratively written volumes, have also been written in Greek.