Dr Andrew Balfour is Chief Executive of Tavistock Relationships, where he has worked since 2001. He originally trained as a clinical psychologist at University College London and then as an adult psychoanalytic psychotherapist at the Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust, whilst in a staff post there. After qualifying, he worked in the Trust, developing training for people working with older adults. He is also currently Head of Training at Tavistock Relationships, where he set up and runs the Advanced Standing Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic trainings (accredited by the BPC). He was the Clinical Director at TR for more than 10 years. He also holds a PhD from the Psychoanalysis Unit at UCL.
He has undertaken research in several areas, including a study of couple psychotherapy outcomes, and dementia care, developing a relationship intervention for people living with dementia. This work received the British Psychoanalytic Council award for Innovative Excellence in 2019.
He has published many journal articles and book chapters and has co-edited two books: How Couple Relationships Shape our World (Routledge, 2012) and Engaging Couples - New Directions in Therapeutic Work with Families (Routledge, 2019). His latest book is Life and Death: Our Relationship with Ageing, Dementia and Other Fates of Time (Routledge 2025).
