In this position paper, we explore psychoanalytic and psycho-social interventions in communities. We start by looking at some of the historical developments in the United Kingdom of psychoanalytically informed professional practice and the way in which various strategies have developed for taking psychoanalysis into the community. We then go on to examine contemporary examples of this work in Bulgaria and South Africa, which the authors of this paper are involved in; these interweave with themes around HIV/AIDS, gender, masculinity, class and ethnicity. We conclude by offering some reflections about the relationship between psychoanalysis, practice and community intervention in which we ask a set of critical questions that we hope will stimulate debate.