It follows the teaching of the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, and was launched at the initiative of his student and son-in-law Jacques-Alain Miller in Buenos Aires on 3 January 1992.

[1] Its statutes[2] are modelled on Lacan's "Founding Act"[3] and adopt the principles outlined in his "Proposition" on the Pass.

[4] With 1,986 members worldwide, and more in affiliated groups, the WAP stands as the largest institutional structure dedicated to the training of psychoanalysts in the Lacanian orientation.

It consists of seven fully-functioning Schools: Four European schools which together form the EuroFédération de Psychanalyse: Three American Schools which together form the Federación Americana de la Orientación Lacaniana: In 1994 and 1996, the members of the WAP met in "assemblies".

Preparatory texts for the congresses are published in Scilicet.