The Psychotherapy Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists is pleased to announce the winner of the Psychotherapy Prize 2003: Dr Joanne Stubley of the Tavistock Clinic, London, for her submission ‘Bearing the unbearable: melancholia following severe trauma’. As one of the reviewers wrote: ‘This is a very moving account of the therapy of a traumatised woman which covers in depth the therapy and considers the clinical work within the framework of psychodynamic theories of loss and trauma. The author shows a remarkable capacity for self-reflection on her clinical practice and a willingness to explore and share these insights in the case report’. There were eight high-quality submissions for this prize. We were pleased to arrange advisors from the Faculty for five of the submissions to assist in the final preparation. There were three assessors from different institutions, representing specialist expertise in different areas of psychotherapy, who independently reviewed the scripts. The prize, which has a value of £500, will be presented to Dr Stubley at the Annual Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2004.