EPF Committees

1. The topic and main argument

The joint interest of our group is the need for better understanding of the turbulent life of our psychoanalytic organizations, and to encourage open discussion on these matters within the EPF. Despite growing interest and literature, this wide and vague area is mostly experienced as part of daily institutional life or retold as history, usually without recognized space and tools for reflection.

We set ourselves the aim to explore the structure, culture, and organization of various psychoanalytical associations, with their unique characteristics. The assumption is that this might contribute to greater understanding of how past historical processes influence current controversies in institutional life and help us deal with them.

Alongside discussions within the group, we have invited representatives of many EPF societies to joint investigation through semi-structured interviews. Written historical materials are also among our study sources.

Since becoming a Forum 2019, we have used the opportunity to offer space for discussions on institutional matters during EPF preconference time with the EPF membership. This has turned out to be mutually rewarding for both the audience and for the work of our committee.

The IMC recently published the book Dynamics of Psychoanalytic Institutions. Legacy, Transformation and Becoming (Routledge 2024), edited by Jasminka Šuljagić; who contributed together with Bernard Chervet, Christine Diercks, Maggiorino Genta, Philip Stokoe, Gabor Szönyi and Franziska Ylander; all members of the former Forum on Institutional Matters.

2. The Strategy

After marking ten years of work and publishing a book that represents the group’s joint endeavor, the IMC is now considering its future strategy and plans. We acknowledge the continuing significance of institutional matters within psychoanalytic organizations and the essential need for a dedicated space to reflect on these issues, as has so far been possible within the preconference format in an open workshop format. It is also our intention to continuously reflect on and apply to contribute to the scientific discussions on EPF conferences – on aspects relevant for the chosen subject and to institutional matters of psychoanalytical institutions

The IMC is open to and welcomes applications for new members.

3. Composition of IMC

Institutional Matters Committee consists since September 2025 of three psychoanalysts from three different countries: Bernard Chervet (Paris Psychoanalytical Society), Jasminka Šuljagić, (Psychoanalytical Society of Serbia), and Franziska Ylander, chair (Swedish Psychoanalytical Association). Besides clinical work and publication, all group members also serve in various positions within their own psychoanalytic societies and/or in European or International organizations.

4. Frequency of Meetings – zoom and/or the EPF House

The Institutional Matters Committee meets six times per year via Zoom and once in person, either at the EPF House or at a location hosted by one of its members.

The topic and main argument:

The proposed new name of the committee, Violent Acting Out Patients, better captures the focus of the clinical and academic psychopathology presented and studied by this group. We examine clinical cases where there has been extreme violence carried out by patients and prisoners in order to further understand the complex root causes and thereby, contribute to prevention, using psychoanalytical theories. This includes individual and group violence as well as internal-driven violence. Our group is also interested in exploring the inter-phase between mental health and criminal justice systems in different countries by way of learning and disseminating knowledge.

The strategy:

Our aim as a core group of psychoanalysts, interested in the interphase between psychoanalysis, other mental health disciplines and criminal justice systems, is to further refine the clinical and academic knowledge base regarding the aetiologies, presentations, treatments and prevention of violence in its vast range of manifestations. This relates mainly to adults but includes children and adolescents. The focus of our monthly muliti-disciplinary meetings is clinical with one main aim being to further refine the psychoanalytic formulation on patients being assessed and treated in secure psychiatry settings as well as patients in the community – and in prisons – in order to enhance the psychiatric teams’ and prison staff’s approaches to these patients & prisoners. Psychoanalysts who may treat less extreme cases can gain from hearing about cases where the fantasies usually kept in mind are actually acted out. This challenges us all theoretically, technically and clinically. Clinicians not trained psychoanalytically appreciate hearing and learning from the in-depth psychoanalytic formulations. The discussions and core group meetings enable some participants to write papers, chapters, books, present webinars, podcasts, and enriche candidates and trainees training experiences. This group remains interested in contributing to the understanding of societal violence and disseminating this to policy makers and the general public.

Composition of the Committee

Chair:
Dr Carine Minne, England

Members:
Dr Richard Ingram, N Ireland
Prof Massimo de Mari, Italy
Dr Brian O’ Neill, Scotland
Dr Elif Gurisik, Turkey
Dr Susanna Klitschko, Germany
Dr Camilla Bargum, Finland
Dr Alain Gibeault, France
Dr Ronald Doctor, England
Dr Maria Pia Conte, Italy
Dr Veronika Grüneisen, Germany
Dr Rob Hale, England
Dr Geneviève Welsh, France
Dr Thomas Jung, Austria
Prof Timothy Keogh, Australia
Dr Armien Abrahams, South Africa

We welcome expressions of interest to join our committee.

Frequency of Meetings:

The forward planning is to continue our monthly clinical discussion meetings (by zoom), where other disciplines can attend, and to hold two core group meetings annually, one via zoom and one at the EPF Conference in person. The core group would also like to plan a Friday/Saturday event at the EPF House in Brussels.

EPF Annual Conference:

This group, previously an ad hoc working group known as Treating Patients who have Killed, later as an ad hoc working group on Acting Out Patients, has had the privilege of presenting at a parallel session annually at EPF conferences since 1999. It is our intention to submit proposals for further EPF conferences parallel panel sessions.

Reports:

Annual reports from this committee are sent to the EPF General Secretary and we will continue ensuring this is completed.

1. The topic and main argument

This research group exists since 2006. The main aim of its research  has been from the beginning,  and still is, to define the fundamental parameters of psychoanalytic treatment today through the application of a qualitative research methodology based on the fundamentals of the psychoanalytic method i.e. free association and free floating attention.

It founds its  research on the study of clinical groups  including  between 10 and 15 analysts from different analytic cultures working on the same clinical material during a day and a half  It is using free association for its work in and on the the clinical groups

A book – specificities of psychoanalytic treatment, birth of a method, edited by Yvette Dorey, Serge Frisch and Leopolodo Bleger- has been published in french (Ithaque) and in english ( Karnac) in 2025 It describes the method and the « findings » of the research

The research group on the "Specificity of Analytical Treatment Today" is committed to continuing to offer clinical groups at the FEP and IPA congresses, to share its rich experience of fifteen years to be put to good use. It also opens up new perspectives and new fields of research, which are currently being defined.

2. The Strategy

The group will continue to offer clinical groups and  to work on the reports of those groups. It is also in process to define new areas to explore using the same methodology.

3. Composition of the research group in September 2025

Chair and co-chair: Erika Kittler and Martine Sandor-Buthaud

The permanent group is composed of:

Conceiçao Almeida (PPS) Portugal, Lucrezia Baldassarre (SPI) Italy, Léo Bleger (APF) France, Valérie Bouville (DPV) Germany, Isabelle Cahingt (APF) France, Marie-France Dispaux (SBP) Belgium, Yvette Dorey (APF) France, Samir Fellak ( SPP) France , Fabienne Fillion (SPP/SBP) Belgium, Serge Frisch (SBP/DPG) Luxembourg, Erika Kittler (DPV) Germany, Martine Sandor-Buthaud (SPP) France, Dimo Stantchev (BPS) Bulgaria

The members of the research group are co-opted

4. Frequency of Meetings 

The group meets twice a year in Paris or in Bruxelles when in Bruxelles at the EPF house.

5. EPF Annual Conferences

It usually offers 4 clinical groups and a panel in the annual EPF conference.

It also offers clinical groups in the IPA conference.

1. The topic and main argument

The growing concern in the scientific community and general population concerning the severity of the current ecological crisis (accelerating global warming, collapse of biodiversity, severe contamination of land, water and air, impending depletion of resources, ...) necessarily affects the psychoanalytic community.
The Committee “Climate change and ecological crisis” wishes to explore the different ways in which environmental issues impact on the psychoanalyst and their patients, on the analytical relationship and on the way in which psychoanalysts think they can contribute to its understanding and attenuation / adaptation to.

2. Strategy:

• to encourage the broadest discussion and reflection among analysts concerning the ecological challenges of our time, their repercussions on our work and what psychoanalysts can contribute to their understanding and management.
  
  This implies, at least, the following levels of reflection:
• At a clinical level, the term eco-anxiety has been proposed to cover the set of reactions to the current and future repercussions of the ecological crisis: anxiety, depression, guilt, denial, desires for reparation, ... How does the patient express/ deny / transform his / her perception of the increasing deterioration of the biosphere? What is the countertransference participation of the analyst, how can he / she manage his / her own anxieties and those of the patients? How to navigate between the Scylla of joint accomplice denial of internal and outside reality and the Charybde of failing to the duty of neutrality through disguised (un)conscious forms of indoctrination?
• At a societal level, what phantasies does the degradation of the environment raise, what group mechanisms are activated? How to cope with the younger generations’ feeling of abandonment, betrayal and deep distrust towards their elders who are responsible of the present situation? What to think about technological solutionism? Does it contain a part of omnipotent and manic defenses? And what can we say about the value of empathy, solidarity, generosity or reparation? Concerning ecological implication and ecological activism, how to understand it? To what degree does it contain primarily defensive mechanisms and to what degree does it convey creative libidinal and reparative phantasies?
• At a more metapsychological level, what concepts does our discipline offer that can help interdisciplinary understanding of the ongoing environmental catastrophe? Do concepts as death drive, envy, melancholia, persecutory or depressive guilt, attacks on thinking, provide useful tools for our understanding? Or else, would they risk excessive defensive rationalization?
  
  
• To contribute to a socially shared construction of an imaginary of hope, in which neoliberal consumerism, hyper acceleration and a culture of uncare will be replaced by the freedom to achieve greater contact with oneself (both with one’s mind and with one’s body), with others and with nature. In other words, to accompany the inevitable ecological transition so that it will not be suffered as a threat and a loss but desired as a promise of greater individual, collective and planetary well-being.
• To promote the broadest participation of psychoanalysts in the global interdisciplinary dialogue and research
• To raise the question of how each analyst and each psychoanalytic association can limit their own environmental impact conveying a degree of ethical responsibility and solidarity with the worries and hopes of our socioeconomic environment

This implies the following tasks:

• To encourage discussions amongst psychoanalysts both at a local level and at international conferences. In this direction consider how our committee could disseminate the discussion among European psychoanalysts also through the EPF website.
• To consider whether psychoanalytical debates on this issue should be included in the regular activities of psychoanalytical associations and in the formation of candidates
• To hold regular meetings (mostly online) among the members of the committee to deepen our reflection and allow the emergence of collective intelligence and psychoanalytic understanding
• To encourage the active participation of psychoanalysts in the ongoing global (not specifically psychoanalytic) scientific and societal debates concerning this issue: conferences, journals, online forums, citizens meetings, …
• To propose concrete measures aimed at reducing the ecological impact of the various psychoanalytical activities (transportation, conferences, communication, ....).
• To inventory the psychoanalytic literature as well as that of the main scientific texts and information sources to enable psychoanalysts to form an informed evolving opinion on the subject.
• To collaborate with the EPF counsel and the different committees to enlarge our reflection and to find operational solutions to the environmental issues raised
  
  

3. Composition

Our committee will be composed of analysts from different countries and psychoanalytic cultures in order to broaden its view and scope. The members are (in alphabetical order): Adela Abella, chair (Swizerland), Valerie Curen (UK), Joseph Dodds (Czech Republic), Jérôme Glas (France), Delaram Habibi-Kolher (Germany), Merja Mäki (Finland), Jean-Paul Matot (Belgium), Elisa Nicolopoulou (Greece), Seda Şahin Özyıldırım (Turkiye), Andoni Sanchez Pérez, secretary (Spain), Cosimo Schinaia (Italy).

4. Frequency of meetings:

One online meeting every 6 weeks.
Presently there are vacancies

The EPF-Committee “prejudice and discrimination” examines the background and underlying  causes of malignant othering from a psychoanalytical and scientific perspective. Prejudices  and discrimination are often linked to a toxic polarization in which the other is perceived as a  threatening enemy who is dehumanized, thereby justifying his or her extermination in  extreme cases. To a lesser extent, this dynamic can lead to a paranoid and dogmatic style of  discussion, in which the other is experienced as an inferior interlocutor. The aim of the  committee is to provide a space beyond polarization, where a “third” can emerge and where  a change of perspective becomes possible; this includes a space for the other´s truth – even  if it is not a shared one. The committee´s purpose is to:

• Explore a methodology for the group to investigate the meaning of prejudices and  discrimination from a psychoanalytic perspective - intrapsychically and  interpersonally. That is, creating a space in which the committee itself functions as a  living laboratory, simultaneously observing the issue of prejudice and discrimination  from the outside, while also examining how it is enacted and acted out.
• Liaise with other EPF-committees that already exist or are yet to be established who  work on topics related to prejudice and discrimination, such as nationalism,  antisemitism or colonization (among others). The EPF-Committee offers to serve as a mediator between those committees.
• Collaborate with the IPA Prejudices, Discrimination and Racism Committee.
• Act as a resource for all societies of the EPF to address psychoanalytically their specific issues of prejudices and discrimination.
• Seek to raise awareness within our own psychoanalytical communities as well, to strive to challenge prejudices in ourselves and in our patients, since we are not exempt from these dynamics.

2. Strategy

The committee applies for a four-year mandate. Regular Zoom conferences will be held to  work on the content of the relevant issues. We aim to propose a pre-congress workshop  and/or a parallel panel for the Main Conference on the annual theme at the EPF annual  conference. Workshops and small conferences on topics related to prejudice and  discrimination are also an option. It is particularly important to maintain contact with  committees working on related topics (see above) and to seek collaboration.

It is also important to remain aware of the dynamics within our intentionally heterogeneous  group.

3. Composition of this committee

Chair: Eckehard Pioch – Germany (DPG)

Honorary Secretary: tba

Members: Jan Abram – UK

Dana Amir – Israel

Mona Chahoury – Lebanon

Ronald Davies – South Africa

Berdj Papazian – Switzerland

4. Frequency of Meetings - zoom and/or the EPF House

We agreed upon zoom-meetings once a month. Personal meetings during the EPF and IPA conferences are intended. If our resources allow, we would also be happy to arrange a personal meeting at the EPF building. However, the question is whether this is realistic.

5. Vacancies

Currently we do not have vacancies for members to participate.

1. The Topic and Main Argument.

The main argument is based on our Notes for Participants (revised 2024), and the plenary given by Francoise Labbe and Ellen A. Sparer at the Forum on Education in 2023.

The ETPP Committee continues the work of the Forum ETPP exploring the interface between the private supervisory relationship within its institutional context. The ETPP Committee will emphasise the meaning of the structure and the culture of an Institute or a society in which supervision takes place, in the Eitingon model as well as in the French model.

The ETPP project aims to combine the presentation of supervisory material with the following question: How does the institution further or hinder the candidate’s becoming a psychoanalyst? Using presenters from colleagues from different Institutions and Societies we will explore the impact of the differences on the supervisory process.

Now we are working with specifying and organizing our findings. Our work’s outcome addresses the question of how to deal with problems arising in supervision within the institution.

This Committee is the only workshop in the EPF pre-congress where the supervisors of candidates can discuss presentations on supervision.

2. Strategy

We arrange working groups for training analysts during the EPF pre-congresses. Two groups work for two days with one presentation each. A training and supervising analyst will present supervisory material in a small group of colleagues. One group has a presenter from an Eitingon - model, and one from the French model.

The discussions in the pre-conference groups are chaired by members of the ETPP Committee. The participants are asked to focus on the implicit training model of the presenter and on the institutional influence as well. This is also an opportunity for the presenter to set out his / her ideas and to reflect on them with colleagues. The participants will reflect on and discuss the clinical material and are invited to consider the institutional influence affecting the supervision process.

Each group is moderated by a member of the ETPP core group. The reporter’s role is to take notes and keep record of the group process and discussion. Participation is only possible for training/supervising psychoanalyst from the IPA. Participation both days is obligatory.

Afterwards the Committee discusses findings from the working groups and continues the reflective work during the core group meetings. The Committee will produce a text based on our findings.

3. Composition

The Committee consists of the ten members from different Societies: Madeleine Bachner (Sweden), Maria Johne (DPV Germany), Katya Kalmykova (Russia now in Israel) Solvi Kristiansen (Norway), Francoise Labbe (Belgium), Elisabeth Skale (Austria), Ellen Sparer (SPP France), Dominique Suchet (APF France), Marie- Ange Wagtmann (Denmark).

The chair is Ann-Mari Rytöhonka from Finland. annmari.rytohonka@gmail.com.

At the moment the Committee does not take new members.

4. Frequency of Meetings

We will continue meeting twice a year in person and 3-4 times in Zoom meetings. We usually meet in the EPF house once a year.

Chair: Yeşim Korkut (Psike İstanbul)

Members:
Claire-Marine François-Poncet(SPP)
Anne Patterson (BPAS)
Jérôme Glas(SPP)
Marie-France Dispaux-Ducloux (SBP)
Cristina Saottini (SPI)

Aims of the group

The EPF committee on Psychoanalytic ethics, was Forum on Psychoanalytic Ethics, for more than 15 years. The aim of our committee is not to evaluate cases. Rather, we believe that Psychoanalytic practice necessitates some inherently embedded principles and values stemming from the frame and history of our Psychoanalytic cultures.  Our divergences and convergences in EPF societies models rest on different paradigms of psychoanalytic ethics.

Our goal is to think together on Psychoanalytic ethics and to analyse examples of crisis, of conflicts from our consulting rooms and within our societies in order to foster the development of contemporary psychoanalysis facing the current crisis in the world. We look forward to reaching a more integrated, deeper understanding of Psychoanalytic ethics, under the umbrella of EPF.

We hope to create and facilitate research and publication activities in the future and to form a collaborative relationship with the Ethics Committees of member societies and with the IPA.

Meetings of the group:

Our group mainly meets together, in person, during each EPF Conference. We also have several online meetings throughout the year to discuss, among other issues, the organisation  of the panel panels in connection to the main theme of the next Conference.

1. Topic and main argument

The Committee on Psychoanalysis – Translation – Language was established as a continuation of  the former Forum on Psychoanalysis and Language. The idea of this forum had been to study  original Freud texts with special attention to their translations into English, French, Italian,  Spanish and other EPF languages. This idea has been taken up and extended by the current  committee. By grasping the original meanings and connotations of words and phrases, and by  appreciating the enrichment that translations into other languages can offer, we hope to identify  hidden meanings, difficulties and misunderstandings, but also new developments.

The Committee plans to broaden its focus beyond Freud to the writings of other analysts, such  as Winnicott, Bion, Laplanche, Ogden and others, and their translations. Language-related  topics such as metaphors, proverbs and language games may also come under closer scrutiny  in the context of the Committee’s work. We are aware that translation – putting into language  – is a fundamental aspect of human psychic activity and of analytic work.

2. Strategy and plan for a four-year mandate

The committee will plan and organize contributions to the EPF conferences. They will refer to  the main topic of the respective Conference.

At each meeting, ongoing discussion of the rationale and limits of the committee’s purpose is  expected and welcome.

Presenters and discussants will be chosen, informed and invited. Towards the end of each  four-year term, a collection of the presenters’ conference papers and their discussions shall be  prepared for publication.

3. Composition of EPF committee

Membership will consist of a limited number of members from different countries and EPF Societies. We consider the current size of the committee (seven members) as favorable for the committee's work at present. New admissions will be considered when there is a vacancy, and we welcome contact from colleagues who may be interested in joining this committee in the  future. Members are expected to be multilingual and experienced in translation.

The Chair and the Honorary Secretary will be chosen from among the ordinary members. They serve a two-year mandate, which can be renewed once, for a maximum of four consecutive years.

4. Frequency of meetings via ZOOM or at the EPF House

Four meetings per year via ZOOM are planned in preparation for the panel held at the upcoming EPF conference. Administrative committee issues will be dealt with alongside the  committee’s scientific work. At each EPF conference, the committee aims to hold at least one  in-person meeting.

5. EPF Annual Conferences

The Committee plans to organize a parallel panel at each EPF Annual Conference, related to the conference’s annual theme. Proposals will be submitted after a preparatory meeting in  early summer, when the details of the next conference are available.

6. Reports

Reports will be sent to the General Secretary by early October each year, in preparation for the Council Meeting in early November in Brussels.

November 2025:

Stefanie Sedlacek (German Psychoanalytical Society (DPG); chair), Johannes Picht (German  Psychoanalytical Association (DPV); honorary secretary), Myria Fabregat (Société  Psychoanalytique de Paris, SPP), Susan Godsil (British Psychoanalytical Society, BPAS),  Udo Hock (German Psychoanalytic Association, DPV), David Holub (Czech  Psychoanalytical Society, ČPS), Jeanne Wolff-Bernstein (Wiener Arbeitskreis für  Psychoanalyse, WAP)

1. Topic and Main Argument

The Committee within the European Psychoanalytical Federation (EPF) is dedicated to explore the multifaceted and nuanced dimensions of violence as it relates to the feminine world; external and internal experiences, consciously and unconsciously.

By examining the complex interplay between these two concepts, the committee seeks to move beyond one-sided perspectives and foster a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the psychological, social, and cultural dynamics at play. Through psychoanalytic exploration, the Committee aims to break through rigid narratives and open new avenues of thought and research on the intersections of violence and the feminine.

The Committee will try to:

1. Explore the wide spectrum of violence related to the feminine, including misogyny, femicide, child marriage, pornography, human trafficking, violence carried out by women and girls, as well as economic oppression and institutional violence in the judicial systems, as well as economic oppression and ‘institutional violence’ in the judicial systems. Investigate psychoanalytic perspectives on victim-perpetrator dynamics, address the bidirectional and interdependent nature of violence. The reality of female violence remains underreported and difficult to accept, as it challenges idealized images of femininity and motherhood. The Committee explores how women, often shaped by their own histories of victimization—including maternal violence—may themselves become perpetrators. A psychoanalytic perspective allows for a deeper understanding of these complexities.
2. Reflect upon oppression and violence against women by investigating their impact on identity and creativity, and subjectivity in different cultures. This will include Freud’s legacy on repudiation of the feminine and the exploration of the feminine aspects of men, as well as the masculine aspects of women.
3. Foster collaboration with other EPF committees to enrich discussions, share perspectives, and integrate findings across different areas of psychoanalysis. This includes engagement with legal professionals to explore gender disparities within legal systems.
4. Promote, through Study Groups, collaborations, and invited lectures, an interdisciplinary dialogue that weaves together psychoanalytic, social, political, and cultural perspectives on emerging themes.

2. The Strategy

The strategy and plan for a four year mandate (which could be extended).

1. The Committee intends to undertake Interdisciplinary and Clinical Research conducting psychoanalytic research on trauma-related therapeutic processes; some of the members of the Committee engage in designing surveys and collecting statistical data across Europe on various forms of violence, such as femicide and the impact of domestic violence on children. As well as investigating transference and countertransference dynamics in clinical settings involving trauma and violence and exploring unconscious processes and phantasies related to violence and the feminine.
2. Establish relationships with international organizations and ONG such as the UN and UNICEF, utilizing psychoanalytic insights and research findings in order to inform decision-making in global mental health initiatives and policy frameworks.
3. Podcasts and Interviews: Efforts are underway to create audio and video content to share key discussions and insights on the EPF website and other platforms
4. Development of a Psychoanalytic Knowledge Base: the committee is building a library of case studies and literature to consolidate psychoanalytic knowledge on violence and the feminine.

3. Composition of EPF Committee

Emanuela Quagliata (Italian Pychoanalytical Society), Training analyst - Chair

Michel Van Veen, (Dutch Psychoanalytical Society) - Honorary Secretary

Silvia Acosta (Portuguese Psychoanalytical Society), Peter Andersson (Swedish Psychoanalytical Association), Olena Kovtun (Ukrainian Psychoanalytical Society), Nadia Kozhouharova (Bulgarian Psychoanalytical Society), Rolands Ivanovs (Estnonian-Latvia Psychoanalytic Society), Carine Minne (British Psychoanalytical Society), Hana Salaam Abdel-Malek (Paris Psychoanalytical Society), Iris Sarajlić Vuković (Croatian Psychoanalytical Society), Mary-Anne Tandy (South African Psychoanalytical Association) - Members.

4. Frequency of Meetings – zoom and/or the EPF House

The Chair and Co-Chair meet regularly every forthnight and meet monthly with the Committee after the Study Group. Regular Meetings (Online and, in-person at the EPF House in Brussels (hoped for): the Committee debates and reviews scientific papers, fostering the exchange of psychoanalytic insights and exploring socially and politically relevant themes, alongside clinical perspectives.

5. EPF Annual Conferences

The Committee on Violence and the Feminine will propose a parallel panel for the Main Conference at the OSLO Congress: ‘Violence, Femininity, Neutrality: A Psychoanalytic Reflection on the Analyst’s Position’. The panel consists of two presentation: ‘Beyond neutrality: The analyst's position in cases of domestic violence’ by Silvia R. Acosta and a second presentation by Yara Debbas Tabet on ‘On Violence and Femininity in the Analytic Setting’.

6. Reports

Attachment: the program of the Study Groups and of the work group that we have organized for 2025-2026 EPF Committee on Violence and the Feminine - European Psychoanalytical Federation

1. Topic and main argument

Sexuality, gender and identity are among the central topics of contemporary psychoanalytic theory, practice and training. Freudian and post-Freudian psychoanalysis has developed a large number of concepts and theories for understanding the individual development of sexuality and the formation of gender identity. These theories have not emerged independently of the various social speeches and bring very ambivalent aspects, both progressive and conservative, to the debates around gender, identity and sexuality.

In recent decades, the “gender question” has been very present in Western societies due to new developments in medical technology, bioethics, philosophical speeches, legal frameworks and social practices. Ideas about gender diversity, the liberalization of sexuality and the fluidity of identities are spreading. These speeches often formulate an undifferentiated critique of psychoanalysis, but they can also enrich psychoanalytic debates. Psychoanalysis can benefit from interdisciplinary engagement with sexuality and gender and enrich its perspectives on the interplay between inside and outside, in terms of the embodiment of the psyche, the inscription of the body into the psyche, and the invention of the subject.

The EPF Committee SEXUALITY, GENDER, IDENTITY aims to contribute to improving and expanding knowledge and practice on the above topics.

2. The Strategy

Convergences, divergences and even conflicts within the psychoanalytic field can create a dynamic situation that stimulates psychoanalytic creativity, on condition that the resistances and multiple anxieties that arise from the “gender question” are sufficiently worked through.

At this crucial point when a new psychoanalytic “object” is emerging,  we analysts, full of theories and aporias, under the pressure of transference and counter-transference relations and in sympathy with our patients who suffer from rigid social norms concerning their gender and sexuality and a supposed “choice” of gender, sexuality and identity, wish to increase our capability to listen to them, to understand their conflicts, contain their suffering and help them to create a personality that corresponds as much as possible to their inner true world.        

To achieve this, our collective thinking is necessary, and the establishment of the EPF Committee on SEXUALITY, GENDER, IDENTITY aims to expand and enrich our theoretical and clinical knowledge by organizing clinical groups, seminars, discussions and publications within the framework of the EPF in the three official languages of the EPF.

The strategy and plan for a four year mandate (which could be extended):

With our committee, we aim to build a bridge between conventional psychoanalytic practice in addressing deviations from the so-called 'norm' in sexuality and gender, and, on the other hand, an open and contemporary psychoanalytic approach to these topics. This applies to both theoretical and clinical work. Specifically, our efforts include organizing conferences independent of the annual conferences.

An urgent concern is to assess the current state of the inclusion of topics related to sexuality, gender, and identity in the various training curricula. Another important task is to create a space for open discussions on clinical experiences related to sexuality and gender issues, both in practical work and within professional associations.

3. Composition

Chair:
Esther Hutfless (praxis@psychoanalyse-hutfless.at), Vienna Psychoanalytic Association, WAP

Honorary Secretary:
Bernd Heimerl (drbernd.heimerl@t-online.de), German Psychoanalytic Society DPG

Ordinary Members:
Silvia Acosta, Portuguese Psychoanalysis Society
Athanasios Alexandridis, Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society, French Psychoanalytic Association
Ewa Glod, Polish Psychoanalytical Society
Mette Hvalstad, Norwegian Psychoanalytical Society
Elisabeth Imhorst, German Psychoanalytic Association/DPV
Louise Lyon, British Psychoanalytical Society
Ferhan Ozenen, Istanbul Psychoanalytical Association
Almut Rudolf-Petersen, DPG Institute Hamburg
Ilka Quindeau, German Psychoanalytic Association/DPV
Eija Repo, Finish Psychoanalytical Society

Additional members may be included in certain projects.

4. Frequency of Meetings – zoom and/or at the EPF House

We plan to organize one meeting per year at the EPF House and to hold several online meetings in between.

5. EPF Annual Conferences

We would like to take the opportunity to offer a workshop prior to the EPF annual conference and/or a parallel panel during the conference on the given annual topic with a specific focus on 'Gender, Sexuality, Identity.' These events are intended to present the work and topics of the committee to a broader audience consisting of members of the individual EPF-member-organizations.

6. Reports

The Reports are sent to the General Secretary by early October each year for the Council Meeting in early November in Brussels. Responsible for this: Chair and honorary secretary.

Topic and main argument

In the current context of the practice of psychoanalysis in Europe, marked by displacement  and migration, we are led to work with patients whose personal histories are traversed by  various ‘elsewheres’, particularly in terms of language.  

During each session, an analyst presents clinical material in the language shared with the  patient. The setting unfolds over half a day and is structured into four stages: a stage of  listening without translation, soliciting the negative capability of the participants; a second  stage, in which the presenting analyst is translated consecutively by the analyst-interpreter  whose fundamental rule is to ‘translate everything’; a third stage which engages the group  in a « weaving thoughts » (Salomonsson) and opens up a space for free association -  before a stage of final elaboration is shared by all the participants with the presenting  analyst and the interpreter.  

The experience we have gained has given rise to the hypothesis of the pertinence of  translation as a device for accessing the negative dimension of transference and  countertransference. Another hypothesis concerns the capacity for transformation of the  weaving thoughts group, a capacity that supports the passage from the non-verbal of the  experienced perceptions to the verbal, particularly in relation to the obstacles to translation  identified.  

Strategy  

• Continue our meetings in the EPF house and propose every year a pre-conference  workshop at the EPF annual conference.
• Continue having two meetings in French and two meetings in English per year (including  the workshop at the annual pre-conference).
• Welcome new participants, especially those introducing languages not yet represented.
• Further develop and broaden our research hypotheses and support participants' work with  a view to publication.

Composition  

Chair: Maria Dimitropoulou (SPP)  

Honorary secretary : Fabienne Fillion (SBP/SPP)  

Ordinary Members (alphabetical order): Panos Aloupis (SPP), Annie Elisabeth Aubert (IPP/ SPP), Myria Fabregat (SPP/SIPP), Susan Godsil (BPS), Danielle Goldstein (IdF/APF),  Françoise Rosseels (SPP), Eike Wolff (SBP).  

Frequency of meetings  

Three meetings per year in the EPF House (two in French and one in English) and one  meeting in English (pre-conference workshop) in the annual conference.  

The committee is currently open to new members.

The vicissitudes of psychic processes related to somatic illnesses have been a source of debate throughout the history of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysts are regularly confronted with patients who present somatic symptoms before, during, and after the course of analysis.

A central question for our work will be how to approach the presence of somatic reality within the analytic encounter. Which clinical settings and conceptual tools are called upon in different traditions when working with psychosomatic material? How do Anglo-Saxon, Latin American, French, and other perspectives shape our understanding and practice?

This working group seeks to open a space for dialogue and exchange, exploring both the convergences and the divergences in the ways participants from diverse theoretical orientations engage with psychosomatic phenomena in the context of contemporary psychoanalysis.

Group participants:

Chair: Denny Panitz (Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society), Co-chair: Diana Tabacof (Paris Psychoanalytical Society), Paloma Araoz (Madrid Psychoanalytical Association), Fotis Bobos (Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society), Wolfgand Lassmann (Vienna Psychoanalytic Society), Marinella Linardos (Italian Psychoanalytic Association), Jonathan Sklar (British Psychoanalytical Society), Megan Virtue (British Psychoanalytical Society)

(closed group)

EPCUS (European Psychoanalytical Conference for University Students) is an initiative of the European Psychoanalytical Federation.

Since 2016, the EPCUS preparatory group has organized ten conferences for university students with an interest in psychoanalysis. The conferences are held at the EPF House in Brussels. The primary aim of EPCUS is to introduce students to psychoanalytic perspectives on human nature and to methods of psychoanalytic treatment. The conferences seek to stimulate interest in psychoanalytic thinking and to disseminate knowledge of clinical and theoretical work within cultural contexts. In this way, EPCUS encourages university students across Europe to consider whether psychoanalytic training at IPA institutes may be of interest to them in the future. This aim is particularly relevant given the limited presence of psychoanalysis at universities and its decline in many countries.

Under the current EPF administration, EPCUS has been granted committee status and its mandate has been expanded. In addition to organizing the EPCUS conferences, the committee is tasked with strengthening the presence of psychoanalysis at universities and developing networks with psychoanalytically oriented university faculty. Psychoanalysis at universities should be consolidated, strengthened, and further expanded.

The committee is also addressing the decline in conference participation observed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Contacts with psychoanalytic colleagues at European universities are being systematically developed and documented. The resulting network will support both the EPCUS conferences and the coordination of further joint activities in research and teaching.

Close cooperation with the IPA University Committee is planned and already underway.

Committee members

Charlotta Björklind (Swedish Psychoanalytical Association)
Anna Christopoulos (Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society)
Mercedes Puchol Martinez (Madrid Psychoanalytical Association)
Anssi Peräkylä (Finnish Psychoanalytical Society; Polish Psychoanalytical Society)
Martin Teising (German Psychoanalytic Association, Coordinator)