Bulgarian Psychoanalytical Society - European Psychoanalytical Federation

Introduction

The Bulgarian Psychoanalytic Society (BPO) was founded as an association of members and candidates of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) in June 2011. In January 2012, the IPA granted the organization the status of a Study Group and during the next 2013, the group was registered according to the laws in Bulgaria. This made it possible for the first time to conduct psychoanalytical training in Bulgaria. In July 2021 BPO became IPA Provisional Society. The Bulgarian Psychoanalytical Society sets itself the long-term goal of developing and spreading psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic therapy, theory, and research in our country.

Members, Candidates

Full members: Psychoanalysts - 12
Associated members: Candidates and Candidates - registered analyzands - 18

Short History

The early history of the psychoanalytic movement in Bulgaria dates back to the early 30s of the 20th century when the first attempts were made to practice and popularize psychoanalysis by Bulgarian

The early history of the psychoanalytic movement in Bulgaria dates back to the early 30s of the 20th century when the first attempts were made to practice and popularize psychoanalysis by Bulgarian specialists who received their education abroad (as the most prominent representatives Nikola Krastnikov, Ivan Kinkel, Mladen Nikolov, Lyubomir Rusev, Andrey Andreev, etc.). These attempts died entirely out after 1944, when, for ideological reasons, the development of the method in our country became impossible.
The first psychoanalytic seminars in Bulgaria were organized after the changes by Bulgarian psychiatrists and psychologists looking for opportunities to specialize in the method. A very important role in this process was played by several Bulgarian psychoanalysts living and working in the West, such as George Cayman (New York), Nikolay Kolev (Stockholm), Yulia Krasteva, Krasimir Taushanov (Paris), and others.
Due to the demands and duration of psychoanalytic training, it has long been impossible to conduct comprehensive training of psychoanalysts on local soil - a problem that affects almost all countries of the "Eastern bloc". To address this difficulty, from the late 1980s and early 1990s, the European Psychoanalytic Federation (EPF) began a series of initiatives to introduce psychoanalysis to these countries. In 2002, the EPF, alongside MPA, established the Psychoanalytic Institute for Eastern Europe "Hahn Groen-Prakken". For more than 10 years, the institute has been training Eastern European specialists. More than 250 people (including 15 Bulgarians) have passed through it,11 of whom are already qualified psychoanalysts.

Founded
IPA Study Group since January 2012
IPA (interim) Provisional Society since July 2021

1) Атанасов, Никола „Психоаналитичното движение в България в периода между двете световни войни“ (Юбилеен сборник на Института по психология на БАН, София – Акад. изд.”Проф. Марин Дринов”, 1997)
2) Fonda, Paolo, A Virtual Training Insitute in Eastern Europe, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Volume 92, Issue 3, p. 695–713, June 2011
3) Szönyi, G. M.D. & Štajner-Popovic, T. Shuttle Analysis, Shuttle Supervision, and Shuttle Life—Some Facts, Experiences, and Questions. (2008). Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 28:309-328