Does psychoanalysis have a place in modern medicine? Peter Fonagy and Alessandra Lemma do their best to make the case that it does. They argue that evidence of its usefulness is “on its way,” that it continues to enhance therapeutic relationships, that it’s central to our understanding of the influence of early life experience, and that it is the basis for cognitive behavioural therapy (doi:10.1136/bmj.e1211). But for my money they are outflanked by Paul Salkovskis and Lewis Wolpert (doi:10.1136/bmj.e1188). Psychoanalysis has had its day, these critics say. It should be given credit for establishing a new paradigm over a century ago, but it has now been supplanted by …