Dr Coline Covington <i>—</i> Honouring her Legacy

Abstract The late Dr Coline Covington died on July 17, 2023, leaving a considerable, rich body of books and articles combining psychoanalytic ideas with historical, political, philosophical and social theory. She was a Training Analyst and Supervisor of the Society of Analytical Psychology (SAP) and the British Psychotherapy Foundation (BPF). With a background in political science and forensic criminology, she was a Fellow of International Dialogue Initiative (IDI), a group formed by Professor Dr Vamik Volkan, Lord Alderdice, and Dr Robi Friedman to apply psychoanalytic concepts in understanding political conflict and the effects of trauma on political behaviour. This paper is an attempt to introduce some of her ideas, psychoanalytic practice and innovative thinking to SAP colleagues who may not be so familiar with her oeuvre. I will acknowledge some of her earlier books/papers of interest briefly and then focus more intensively on her recent trilogy of publications presenting a psychoanalytic exploration of political psychology. Her first book, Everyday Evils: A Psychoanalytic View of Evil and Morality (2017), addresses atrocities arising from perverted belief systems but which are nevertheless based on a powerful need to belong. Her second book, For Goodness Sake: Bravery, Patriotism and Identity (2020), suggests that the same belief system also inspires acts of bravery and patriotism. Her third book, Who’s to Blame? Collective Guilt on Trial (2023), challenges the concept of collective guilt associated with the aftermath of large‐scale atrocities and examines the moral pressure placed on perpetrators to exhibit guilt as part of a realignment of political power and a process of restoring social morality.