Dynamics of Psychoanalytic Institutions. Legacy, Transformation and Becoming

The EPF Working group Institutional Matters Forum (IMF) recently published the book Dynamics of Psychoanalytic Institutions. Legacy, Transformation and Becoming written by all the members and edited by Jasminka Šuljagiċ.

The EPF Institutional Matters Forum consists of seven members from different European societies: Bernard Chervet (Paris Psychoanalytical Society), Christine Diercks (Vienna Psychoanalytic Society), Franziska Ylander (Swedish Psychoanalytical Association), Gábor Szőnyi (Hungarian Psychoanalytical Society), Jasminka Šuljagić, chair (Psychoanalytical Society of Serbia), Maggiorino Genta (Swiss Psychoanalytical Society), and Philip Stokoe (British Psychoanalytic Society).

The working group was approved at the EPF Council Meeting in October 2015 as the EPF Ad hoc Institutional Matters Group, and in April 2019 as the EPF Forum on Institutional Matters. The IMF’s goal is to explore the structure, culture, and organisation of psychoanalytic associations. Despite growing interest and an expanding body of literature, this broad and complex area is mostly experienced only as part of daily institutional life or retold as part of history, marked with frequent conflicts, disruptions, splits and impasses, but usually without the recognized space and tools for reflection. During the years, through interviews with various societies, inter-group dialogues, and discussions with broader audience, the IMF have explored the question of whether psychoanalytic organizations have unique characteristics, linked to the specificity of analytic experience and its way of transmission. The assumption is that this might contribute to a greater understanding of the ways in which past historical processes influence current controversies in institutional life, and hopefully help us to deal with them.

This book is the outcome of ten years of work by the IMF. The themes revolve around the matters of legacy and origins, foundational issues, authority and identifications, group psychology, and training questions, all with their own traumatic potential, and with the possibility of working through and transformation.

 

ENDORSEMENTS

Psychoanalytic Institutions: Legacy, Transformation and Becoming is a much needed and remarkable achievement for the understanding of one of the less explored dimensions of our discipline , which at the same time is a central one: our own institutions. Written by a group of the most well known and experienced analysts in this field, this excellent book arrives at a moment when we all need to deepen our insights on how our institutions begun, developed , and must keep alive their vitality and the capacity to continue as a work in progress and continuous transformation.

Cláudio Laks Eizirik
Former President of the International Psychoanalytic Association
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

 

Springing forth from the engagement with the individual psyche, its conflictual and needful nature, the contributions of psychoanalysis in the social realm have been marginalized. Lately, however, the exploration of institutional and societal issues has gradually grown to receive its fair share and equal status. This book, Dynamics of Psychoanalytic Institutions, Legacy, Transformation and Becoming, is a major step in this direction. The topics covered are fascinating and relevant to every major aspect of psychoanalytic institutional and organizational life. It offers a complex tapestry that keenly explores institutional developments, emphasizing their formative stages and historical circumstances, which both fertilize and restrict freedom and creativity. Far from idealizing, these dynamics are explored penetratingly through a psychoanalytic lens and with analytic neutrality. The issues considered are too numerous to list, ranging from the training of candidates to the splitting and rejoining of mature societies. It is equally striking that this important work on group and organizational dynamics is the product of a working group with different styles and backgrounds that succeeds in forming a rich and rewarding whole. It will undoubtedly be a major addition to this growing area of study and exploration.

Shmuel Erlich
Prof. (Emeritus), Sigmund Freud Chair, Hebrew University; Past Chair, IPA Institutional Issues Committee.

The book launch is scheduled for Friday, April 4th, 2025, from 17:00 to 18:30 during the EPF Conference in Dresden.