Sally Bjorklund (USA)
Margaret Black Mitchell (USA)
Rocky Chu (China)
Gabriela Gusita (Greece)
Patricia Minjares (Mexico)
Valentin Miu (Romania)
Marie Saba (Peru)
John Sloane (Canada)
Sally Bjorklund
Where Are You?
I logged into the symposium with some dread. I was suffering from Zoom fatigue. However, when the camera came on, a feeling of unexpected pleasure washed over me. Seeing faces I hadn’t seen since the conference in Tel Aviv reminded me of how much I’ve missed hugging and sitting with friends as well as being in a room with familiar faces. Though grumpy about the early morning start, Seattle time, I heard that attendees were in nine different time zones. It was a small miracle that a time frame was found that could accommodate everyone.
I was deeply moved by Cynthia Chalker’s presentation, “Can I Get a Witness?” Summoning an idiom from the Black church, she invited us to hear her “testimony,” her experience of working and living during 2020. As Tony Bass reminded us in his account of working in 2020, “Masked and Unmasked,” we have been navigating a triple crisis: Covid, the murder of George Floyd and ensuing protests over police brutality and the demand for racial justice, and the intense anxiety leading up to the U.S. presidential election. The themes of Cynthia’s paper were deeply personal, sharing her own experiences of loss, fear and anger, but they also spoke to the themes of the symposium. Though we each have had our own particular experience of the pandemic, depending on where we live, we heard how the pandemic has been experienced in different parts of the world. Chalker quoted Audre Lorde on difference, on “How perspective alters the way you perceive difference. How distance alters what we see, depending on where we are standing, how difference alters understanding.” This quote is resonant on so many levels. With participants from all over the world we shared our difference while sharing the sameness of the global pandemic. The crisis in the U.S. politically and socially impacted Americans but also the whole world. In my discussion group I heard how the outsized influence of the U.S. impacted other countries, especially our Canadian neighbors. I learned that some Canadians became Trump supporters, embracing his messages of racism, divisions, us against them thinking.
In Shlomit Yadlin-Gadot’s fascinating presentation, “The Carnivalesque Politics of a Pandemic Body,” we were taken inside the complex world of protest in Israel which revealed significant differences from the U.S. in their cultural approach to protest. Divergent groups were able to unite in common cause over Covid. They employed creativity and art to speak their message and refrained from breaking the law. Maybe this is not possible in America because racism has permeated policing for centuries.
Cynthia’s refrain, “Where are you?” summoned the now familiar experience of the camera coming on to begin a session and not knowing what you’re going to see. Which room in the house? In the car? At the beach? And our wish to find each other emotionally. As the summer of protests exploded, talk of politics filled the hours. Where are you in this political moment?
Thanks to Steve and the Board for dreaming this into existence and to Elisa and Alan, the administrative and tech wizards, for giving us this opportunity to find each other again.
Sally Bjorklund, MA, LMHC
Seattle, Washington
Email Sally Bjorklund
Margaret Black Mitchell
“Minds seek other minds – that’s what they do.” (Edward Tronick)
What a relief!!!
After too many hours of mind-numbing catastrophic news coverage and relentless internal debating on the safety of flying to the West Coast to see my newly arrived granddaughter, I found myself spending a weekend fully engaged in the stimulating world of relational psychoanalysis, listening to thought-provoking presentations – even lucky enough to occasionally find myself in break-out groups where I could see old friends and dearly missed colleagues.
The Symposium took us on a tour through the broadly configured, richly textured world of contemporary relational thinking, underscoring the wealth of thought and creativity unleashed by the relational perspective. It was a joy to be reminded of how interesting psychoanalysis has become now that it is no longer confined to the dictates of a singular theory and has recognized the many ways intersubjectivity figures into our understanding of human experience.
As a group, the weekend presentations demonstrated the breadth and specificity of contributions currently defining our field. Gianni Nebbiosi and Susi Federici, drawing on their understanding of the rich world of nonverbal communication that is a part of human experience from birth, asked us to more carefully consider what we could learn about our patients not simply by listening to them but also by seeing and feeling them – watching their bodies, facial expressions, movements, training ourselves to more deeply grasp this area of communication by trying to mime our patients when we are alone in our office. Tony Bass offered us a close study of the impact of the pandemic on our clinical work – illustrating the very different experiences within each clinical dyad as patient and analyst adjusted to the pros and cons of virtual sessions.
Others took us into the larger world of culture and social issues. Jessica Benjamin asked us to consider how relational understandings are intrinsic to dimensions of our current painful political struggles. Cynthia Chalker offered us a powerful and timely description of how issues of race and class infuse our relational experience, not only with our patients but also with our colleagues and within our profession.
While for me the Zoom engagement leaves much to be desired, and I certainly miss the experience of our in-person conference where I could see and sit with my friends and colleagues, I really appreciated the experience of this Symposium.
I loved encountering so many unexpected and interesting topics: taking a stroll through the historical development of our earliest language where verbs often concentrated on capturing movements in the body. Or Hazel Ipp’s offering that while virtual sessions do indeed deprive us of all that is transmitted in embodied meetings, it may be that much like a newly blinded person develops acute capacities in hearing, as committed clinicians we may be adjusting to these clinical deprivations by developing a more acute awareness of other avenues of connecting with our patients: Listening more carefully to breathing when on the phone, choosing our words more carefully and being more aware of the emotion carried by our comments. Or Mal Slavin’s thought-provoking observation that when we cannot resolve differences with language, sometimes creative artistic expression can offer a bridge enabling a better connection.
Following the Symposium I felt much more alert and alive and enjoyed a lighter sense of being in the world. I realized then that I had not been fully aware of how much the insidious impact of the pandemic isolation was affecting me. I’m so glad we decided to offer this event.
We are so lucky to be members of this profession!
Margaret Black Mitchell, LCSW
New York, NY
Email Margaret Black Mitchell
(点击这里查看中文)
Rocky Chu
Encounter with IARPP
As a group therapist, the word “encounter” has special meaning to me: meet and connect. That’s the good start for me and IARPP.
In the seven years of my private practice, I have no postgraduate training to participate in China, not only for group therapy but also for individual therapy. I am searching for new development in my professional career.
One day in December 2020, I saw IARPP in a book. That was my first encounter with IARPP.
I cannot remember which book, but I searched the internet without hesitation. Then I encountered IARPP for the second time.
I was so lucky, because the IARPP symposium would be held very soon.
Before the symposium, I was impressed by the way IARPP reminded me of the agenda of the symposium: 5 days ahead, 2 days ahead, 2 hours ahead, 1 hour ahead. It helped me to not miss it, because at that time I was not sure about the time zone conversion.
After the symposium, you reminded me about the CE credits, and provided all the lecture videos for two weeks. All these are so professional.
In the lectures, which I call Large Group, different speakers provided varied viewpoints. And the discussion panel and Q&A made me feel connection with others.
In the Small Group, I felt lucky to have the same group leaders over the two days. One group leader, Micha Weiss, made us feel very warm in the group, so group members could connect freely. The other, Robert Berley, helped me express myself in the group, especially at the time I have no idea about the correct word I wanted to say. Robert also suggested to me the kind of professional training which would be suitable for me.
People in the symposium, the speakers, group leaders, participants, and Matt Aibel, the editor of IARPP’s newsletter, all of them aroused in me the encounter feeling in IARPP.
I benefit a lot from IARPP. It opens a window for me in my professional development. And I would like to make my effort to do something for IARPP. Perhaps I am the first Chinese in IARPP. Maybe it is the time to let more Chinese counselors/therapists know about it.
Rocky Chu, MA
Shanghai, China
Email Rocky Chu
楚奇
与IARPP “相遇” 楚奇
人生中总有一些事情是看似偶然，但却是注定的。
比如，与与IARPP “相遇” 。
作为一个团体带领者，“相遇”这个词是有特殊的含义，因为不单是遇见，还包含着连接，内在的连接。
在2020年末的某一天，我在一本书上看到IARPP ，然后就找到官方网站。在刚刚好的时间，我了解到即将举办的IARPP symposium，然后就报名付费，等待内容丰富的专业学习的开始。
IARPP Symposium 让我通过亲身的体验，了解IARPP更多。每一个理论流派的理念，体现在方方面面，即关注关系，关注人。
在丰富的讲座中，主题即围绕着关系，拓展了我在专业学习之路上的视野与知识。
在小团体的体验中，对人的关注，是团体带领者Micha Weiss 和 Robert Berley让我真切体验到的。无论是从团体的整体风格，还是带领者个人风格，让我这个第一次用非母语与国外同行交流的人，快速的消除了焦虑，投入与大家的互动与连接中。
在最后的大总结中，作为唯一的中国人，被看到，被欢迎，被给予表达自己的机会，还有被来自大家的热情温暖着，家庭般的温暖。
与IARPP的相遇发生在我寻找新的专业学习之路的时候。
我的团体带领之路，开始于Harry Sullvian，即人际关系团体。
2年前，我开始了精神动力团体的带领，开始学习和掌握精神分析流派的理论。
在精神分析的众多流派理论中，关系取向的理论学习资源几乎没有，因为在现阶段，关系取向的理论在中国并不是主流。
IARPP为我打开了一扇窗，遇到一群秉持相似理念的同行，一起前行。
在从IARPP受益很多的同时，我也在思考着能为IARPP回馈些什么。
也许，让更多的人了解IARPP，在中国推广关系精神分析理论与应用，是我
为我，为IARPP，为他人，为“我们”。
楚奇，独立执业心理师，人际关系专家。目前在上海提供有效解决关系议题方面的团体心理咨询、个体心理咨询服务。
Rocky Chu
Shanghai, China
Email Rocky Chu
(κάντε κλικ εδώ για ελληνικά)
Gabriela Gusita
The Tired Therapist
When the symposium was announced, I was so thrilled. I immediately registered and waited.
The day of the symposium I had a terrible migraine. I remembered that a few weeks before the Tel Aviv conference, I had an IBS crisis. Why was it that every time psychoanalytic relationality would come closer to me, I would always have these strange mental and somatic symptoms?
In Tel Aviv I was healed by the warmth of the hugs I received from the people I met. Would this symposium help my brain rewire? But the conditions are so different this time, I am thinking. So many things have changed.
For me, attending to this online symposium had three dimensions. The first one I would call “feeling of absence.” It was about being present and unseen, and of course this lead to me losing my voice and my ways of knowing how to stay present behind the screen. The second one I am calling “lost and found experience.” It was about listening to the subjective experiences of my colleagues while contemplating how my own difficult experiences working as a young therapist during Covid times were still unmetabolized and unknowingly repressed in the corners of my hidden body. The effort of admitting how difficult the past year was brought up from within me tremendous defenses in the form of tiredness, exhaustion, sleepiness and lack of concentration, while I tried to listen and grasp the meanings of the presentations.
The third dimension I will call “the containing space,” the most difficult one for me — being confronted by and having to accept the fact that virtual reality is the new space we all eventually have to “enter” and remain with long enough so that we may achieve satisfactory mental presence and find ways of true connection and communication with each other. This has to do with this new and complicated reality called online, remote, virtual connectivity and presence. I think true intimacy in virtual meetings is quite rare if not impossible most of the time, especially in big groups.
No, for me online therapy is not the same as attending an online symposium, especially when one has lived the reality of hugs, laughing, dancing and looking into each other’s eyes, much as individual therapy is not the same as group therapy. Collective presence brings other levels of difficulty than individual presence when talking about relationality.
Yes, this is the only thing we have right now, and IARPP once more proved brave enough to open this space for all of us, despite the fact that nobody knew the consequences of what would happen when such a large number of people would meet in a rigid, specific and divided space.
I tried so much to connect, sometimes unsuccessfully lying on my couch and watching the words hit on my monitor and die, meanings fading away, feeling tired of trying to chase associations, sickened by the screen that brings the world to me but at the same time keeps me from it. At other times successfully, as when Jessica Benjamin had her presentation, and I would count the people present – that was the first moment I felt the bliss of belonging and of being together in IARPP. I did not care about the boxes, I would see familiar faces, I would see people in their rooms, self-disclosing their personal spaces, it was as if I would see their absent bodies. Then for a moment I was not alone, we were all together. For me, the boxes are like windows one opens to talk to his or her neighbors.
Bottom line, this new experience of this symposium was difficult for me, mostly because it confirmed virtual reality comes with its own rules, and we first have to get used to and accept it, and afterwards learn how to relate within it. The IARPP Symposium was not about soothing or teaching me how to deal with my pain; it was about being together in a new reality. It brought change by opening new space and, no matter how difficult it was, seeing the presentations I realized how human and present and kind all the participants were, and that was my lesson. My difficulty is no longer difficult as long as I see people dealing with it in a responsible, serious and intelligent way, as all the organizers did.
Writing this reflection gives me the chance to find my voice and for my difficult truth to be heard. I feel privileged for the opportunity to do this.
Gabriela Gusita, M.Sc.
Athens, Greece
Email Gabriela Gusita
Gabriela Gusita
Η κουρασμένη θεραπεύτρια
Όταν ανακοινώθηκε το Συμπόσιο, χάρηκα. Αμέσως μετά έκανα την εγγραφή μου και περίμενα υπομονετικά.
Την ημέρα του Συμποσίου είχα ένα τρομερό πονοκέφαλο. Θυμήθηκα ότι μερικές εβδομάδες πριν από το Συνέδριο στο Τελ Αβίβ, είχα μια κρίση ευερέθιστου εντέρου. Γιατί άραγε κάθε φορά που η σχεσιακή ψυχανάλυση έρχεται κοντά μου, σωματικά και νοητικά συμπτώματα θα κάνουν την εμφάνιση τους επίσης.
Στο Τελ Αβίβ θεραπεύτηκα από τις ζεστές αγκαλιές των ανθρώπων που γνώρισα. Άραγε θα με βοηθούσε αυτό το συμπόσιο να επαναλειτουργήσω τον εγκέφαλο μου; Όμως τα πράγματα είναι διαφορετικά αυτή τη φορά, σκέφτομαι. Τόσα έχουν αλλάξει από τότε.
Για μένα η συμμέτοχη σε αυτό το διαδικτυακό συμπόσιο είχε τρεις διαστάσεις. Την πρώτη θα την ονόμαζα «το αίσθημα της απουσίας». Είχε να κάνει με το να είναι κανείς παρόν αλλά να μην φαίνεται, και βέβαια αυτό με οδήγησε στο να χάσω τη φωνή μου και τους τρόπους μου να παραμείνω παρούσα πίσω από μια οθόνη. Τη δεύτερη θα την πω «χαμένη και επανακτηθείσα εμπειρία». Είχε να κάνει με το ότι άκουγα τις υποκειμενικές εμπειρίες των συναδέλφών μου καθώς συνειδητοποιούσα πως οι δίκες μου οι δύσκολες εμπειρίες ως νέα θεραπεύτρια στη διάρκεια της πανδημίας του Covid παρέμεναν ακόμα αμεταβόλιστες και χωρίς τη θέληση μου καταπιεσμένες σε γωνιές του κρυμμένου μου κορμιού. Η προσπάθεια να αποδεχτώ πόσο δύσκολη ήταν η περασμένη χρονιά έβγαζε από μέσα μου τρομερές άμυνες όπως κούραση, εξάντληση, νύστα και έλλειψη συγκέντρωσης καθώς προσπαθούσα να αφουγκραστώ τα νοήματα των παρουσιάσεων.
Την τρίτη διάσταση θα την πω «χώρος που εμπεριέχει», ήταν το πιο δύσκολο για μένα – δηλαδή είχε να κάνει με το να πρέπει να αντιμετωπίζω και να αποδεχτώ το γεγονός ότι η διαδικτυακή πραγματικότητα είναι πια ένας νέος χώρος οπού όλοι πρέπει να «μπούμε» και να παραμείνουμε αρκετά έτσι ώστε να καταφέρουμε μια ικανοποιητική νοητική παρουσία και να βρούμε τρόπους πραγματικής συσχέτισης και επικοινωνίας μεταξύ μας. Αυτό έχει να κάνει με αυτήν την νέα και περιπλοκή πραγματικότητα που ονομάζουμε διαδικτυακή, εξ αποστάσεως, εικονική. Πιστεύω η πραγματική οικειότητα σε διαδικτυακές συναντήσεις είναι αραιή έως και αδύνατη τον περισσότερο χρόνο, ειδικά σε μεγάλες ομάδες.
Όχι, για μένα η διαδικτυακή θεραπεία δεν είναι το ίδιο με το να παρακολουθήσει κανείς ένα συμπόσιο στο διαδίκτυο, ειδικά όταν υπάρχει μια προηγούμενη εμπειρία της αγκαλιάς, του χορού και των βλεμματικών επαφών, όπως και η ατομική θεραπεία δεν είναι το ίδιο με την ομαδική θεραπεία. Η συλλογική παρουσία φέρνει άλλα επίπεδα δυσκολίας από την ατομική παρουσία όταν μιλάμε για τη σχεσιακότητα.
Ναι, μόνο αυτό έχουμε αυτόν τον καιρό, και η Δ.Ε.Σ.Ψ.Ψ ακόμα μια φορά απέδειξε ότι είναι αρκετά τολμηρή να ανοίξει χώρο για όλους εμάς, χωρίς να ξέρει τις συνέπειες του τι θα συνέβαινε όταν ένας τεράστιος αριθμός ανθρώπων από όλο τον κόσμο θα συναντηθεί σε ένα απόλυτο, συγκεκριμένο και κατακερματισμένο χώρο.
Προσπάθησα πολύ να συνδεθώ, μερικές φορές ανεπιτυχώς ξαπλωμένη στον καναπέ μου και βλέποντας τις λέξεις να χτυπούν στην οθόνη και να πεθαίνουν, έννοιες να χάνονται, νιώθοντας κουρασμένη να προσπαθήσω να κυνηγήσω συνειρμούς, αηδιασμένη από μια οθόνη που έφερνε τον κόσμο σε έμενα άλλα ταυτόχρονα με κράταγε μακριά από τον κόσμο. Άλλες φορές επιτυχώς, όταν η Jessica Benjamin έκανε την παρουσίαση της, και εγώ μετρούσα τους ανθρώπους παρόντες – τότε ήταν η πρώτη στιγμή που ένιωσα τη χαρά του ανήκειν και της μαζικής συνύπαρξης στην Δ.Ε.Σ.Ψ.Ψ. Δεν με ενοχλούσαν τα κουτιά, όσο έβλεπα οικεία πρόσωπα, τα δωμάτια τους, αποκαλύπτοντας τους προσωπικούς τους χώρους ήταν λες και έβλεπα τα σώματα τους που δεν φαινόταν. Εκείνη τη στιγμή δεν ένιωθα μόνη, ήμασταν όλοι μαζί, Για μένα τα κουτιά είναι σαν παράθυρα που ανοίγει κανείς για να μιλήσει με τους γείτονες.
Έν κατάκλειδί, αυτή η καινούργια εμπειρία του Συμποσίου ήταν δύσκολη για μένα, πιο πολύ γιατί μου επιβεβαίωσε ότι η διαδικτυακή πραγματικότητα έρχεται με τους δικούς της κανόνες, που πρέπει πρώτα να συνηθίσουμε και να αποδεχτούμε και μετά να συσχετιστούμε μέσα σε αυτήν. Το Συμπόσιο της Δ.Ε.Σ.Ψ.Ψ. δεν είχε να κάνει με το πώς θα μάθαινα να ανακουφίζω ή να διαχειριστώ τον πόνο μου, είχε να κάνει με το πώς μπορούμε να συνυπάρξουμε σε μια νέα πραγματικότητα. Έφερε αλλαγή ανοίγοντας νέο χώρο και όσο και δύσκολο και να ήταν καθώς άκουγα τις παρουσιάσεις συνειδητοποιούσα πόσο ανθρώπινοι, και παρόντες και καλοσυνάτοι ήταν όλοι οι συμμετέχοντος και αυτό ήταν το μάθημα μου. Η δυσκολία μου δεν ήταν τόσο δύσκολη όσο έβλεπα τους ανθρώπους που διοργάνωσαν το συμπόσιο να το διαχειρίζονται με υπευθυνότητα, σοβαρότητα και εξυπνάδα.
Γράφοντας αυτό το κείμενο μου δίνεται η ευκαιρία να ξαναβρώ τη φωνή μου και έτσι η δύσκολη αλήθεια μου να εισακουστεί. Αισθάνομαι προνομιούχα για την ευκαιρία που μου δόθηκε. Ευχαριστώ!
Gabriela Gusita, M.Sc.
Athens, Greece
Email Gabriela Gusita
(haga clic aquí para español)
Patricia Minjares
A Great Success
I think the Symposium’s online modality was a total success, for several reasons:
Firstly, IARPP’s capacity to adapt to the changing circumstances to which the current pandemic has subjected us. Finding alternative ways to maintain contact, the exchange and dissemination of thought about relational psychoanalysis seemed to me a success. Although we have all had to make modifications to the framework with which we work with patients, doing it for a symposium implied other challenges that were very well accepted and overcome.
Secondly, having the presenter on screen gave a particular closeness to him/her since it avoided the distance that an audience implies. It is a particular experience. Unlike physical encounters among a small number of people that allow more personal interaction, the public exhibition of a work is usually carried out from a podium at a greater distance. The online modality generated greater proximity with the presenter. Here I quote the phrase of Tony Bass: “when working remotely brings us closer.”
Thirdly, the presentations referred to the environment in which each patient and analyst is situated and the way it influences the development of the therapeutic process. It seems to me that the same phenomenon took place via our Zoom event. We had a different setting in each presentation – which in an auditorium is the same for everyone – and it gave us information about each presenter, made them more human, revealed part of their personal preferences. Just as our practices do in our analytic settings.
The online meeting has virtues inherent to the modality in addition to those mentioned. One more of these advantages is that it allows people located around the world to attend the symposium, including those that for whatever reason cannot travel.
For all the above, it seems to me that, even once this pandemic has been overcome, this other form of presentation should be maintained. Not as a replacement for traditional symposia, but as an added modality.
I do not want to miss highlighting and thanking IARPP-Peru for its generous contribution of the Spanish translation of the papers. It was very useful. Which leads me to comment that it is highly desirable that there be simultaneous translation into Spanish, given the large number of Spanish-speaking members of IARPP who do not handle ourselves comfortably in English. This gesture would bring IARPP International closer to those analysts and therapists who have been held back by the language.
Finally, regarding the content of the valuable works presented, they allowed us not only to present the challenges that this pandemic has imposed on us in the exercise of our work, but also to feel accompanied, challenged and identified during this difficult time where some governments fabricate lies, sow divisions and even commit atrocities.
I am grateful for the intelligence, sharpness and skill of each of the speakers, as well as that of the moderator who, with the kindness that characterizes him, very ably led the event, all of which ensured it was a great success.
Patricia Minjares, Ph.D.
Mexico City, Mexico
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Patricia Minjares
Un Total Exito
Te estoy enviando algunos aspectos que yo resaltaría sobre el pasado simposio.
Respecto a la modalidad en línea: me parece que fue un total éxito por varias razones:
En primer lugar, la capacidad de la IARPP para adaptarse al cambio de circunstancias al que nos ha sometido la actual pandemia. El encontrar formas alternativas para mantener el contacto, el intercambio y la difusión del pensamiento en torno al psicoanálisis relacional me parece un acierto. Si bien todos hemos tenido que hacer modificaciones al encuadre con el que trabajamos con los pacientes, hacerlo para un simposio implica otros retos que fueron muy bien asumidos y vencidos.
En segundo lugar, tener en pantalla al expositor da una particular cercanía al mismo pues evita la distancia que un auditorio implica. Es una experiencia particular, que a diferencia de los encuentros físicos, entre un número reducido de gente, que permiten la interacción más personal; la exposición pública de un trabajo se realiza habitualmente desde un podio y una mayor distancia; esta modalidad, en línea, genera mayor cercanía con el expositor. Aquí cito la frase de Tony Bass: “cuando trabajar a distancia nos acerca”.
En tercer lugar, siguiendo con las presentaciones, se ha hecho referencia al entorno en que se sitúa cada paciente y analista y la manera en la que influye en el desarrollo del proceso terapéutico. Me parece que el mismo fenómeno tiene lugar en las exposiciones vía internet. Tuvimos un escenario diferente en cada una de las presentaciones -lo que en un auditorio está dado igual para todos- y éste, nos da información sobre cada expositor, lo vuelve más humano, devela parte de sus preferencias personales. Tal y como nuestros consultorios lo hacen en nuestro encuadre analítico.
El encuentro en línea tiene virtudes propias de la modalidad, además de las mencionadas, una más de dichas ventajas es que permite la asistencia al simposio de personas ubicadas alrededor del mundo incluyendo a aquellas que no les es posible viajar.
Por todo lo expuesto, me parece que, incluso una vez superada esta pandemia, debería mantenerse esta otra forma de presentación. No como una sustitución de los simposios tradicionales, sino como una modalidad agregada.
No quiero que se me escape resaltar y agradecer la generosa contribución de la IARPP Perú con la traducción al español de los trabajos. Fue de gran utilidad. Lo que me lleva a comentar que es muy deseable que haya traducción simultánea al español dado el gran número de hispanohablantes miembros de la Iarpp que no nos manejamos cómodamente en el inglés; este gesto acercaría a la IARPP Internacional a aquellos analistas y terapeutas que se han visto frenados por el idioma.
Finalmente, en cuanto al contenido de los valiosos trabajos presentados nos permitieron no sólo la exposición sobre los retos que esta pandemia nos ha impuesto en el ejercicio de nuestro trabajo, sino también sentirnos acompañados, desafiados e identificados en estos difíciles tiempos en los que algunos de nuestros gobiernos fabrican mentiras, generan divisiones e incluso cometen atrocidades.
Agradezco la inteligencia, la agudeza y la habilidad de cada uno de los expositores, así como la del moderador quien, con la gentileza que le caracteriza, supo conducir el evento; todo lo cual aseguró un gran éxito.
Patricia Minjares, Ph.D.
Ciudad de México, México
Email Patricia Minjares
(click aici pentru română)
Valentin Miu
An Open Talk Space
After attending past IARPP webinars, I expected that the organization of the Symposium would be very good and the relational dynamic impressive. And so it was.
My presence in this event – along with other colleagues from Romania, with whom I have discussed the organizational efforts and presentations we attended, and other hundreds of analysts and therapists from around the world – brings me that type of confirmation – see it and believe it. People around the world get together to talk to each other. . . not only to speak.
It’s impressive for me and it takes an effort on my part to contain the idea of such a diverse community and such an open talk space. The presentations I attended, or those that my colleagues mentioned in their comments, aroused both my curiosity and my desire to be part of such a creative-dynamic space and, in my turn, to help build that kind of space within the small Romanian community. So many voices, with so many nuances.
At the same time, while watching faces and expressions, listening to the presentations, and reading the questions addressed in chat rooms, I felt I was in the right place, not needing to do anything specific. All throughout the Symposium, I felt your presence alongside mine, your aliveness together with my curiosity, and the desire to be together in and for these exchanges buzzing in the background.
And we all know that this cannot happen but in a good frame.
Then, to my surprise, during the last presentation the other buzz gained a more courageous feel. Just like that, it seemed to me that part of the participants rushed to give their questions voice . . . and there were so many question marks in the air, and no time left, and . . . Ahh . . . In the same air, there was also the need to speak a little more.
I am grateful to all of you for the opportunity to picture the relational world as such. Thank you to the organizational staff for their efforts to put together the event during this pandemic and also at the beginning of this year, a great beginning. This Symposium gave me once again the confirmation that only together we can make things work.
Valentin Miu, Psy. D.
Bucharest, Romania
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Valentin Miu
Un spatiu de discutie liber
Dupa ce, in trecut, am participat la webinariile Iarpp ma asteptam ca organizarea sa fie foarte buna iar dinamica relationala impresionanta. Si chiar asa a fost.
Prezenta mea la acest simpozion, alaturi nu doar de alti colegi din Romania cu care am discutat pe marginea organizarii si a prezentarilor la care am participat, ci si alaturi de celelalte sute de analisti si terapeuti din intreaga lume, imi aduce acel tip de confirmare – nu crezi pana nu vezi. Oameni din intreaga lume s-au adunat impreuna pentru a vorbi . . . si nu numai pentru a discuta.
Pentru mine este impresionant si necesita un efort de a cuprinde ideea unei comunitati atat de diverse, un spatiu de discutie atat de liber. Prezentarile la care am participat direct sau cele despre care colegii mei mi-au spus, mi-au starnit nu doar curiozitatea ci si dorinta de a fi parte a unui asemenea spatiu dinamic-creativ si, la randul meu, de a ajuta la amenajarea unui asemenea spatiu in comunitatea mai mica, romaneasca. Atat de multe voci, cu atat de multe nuante.
In acelasi timp insa, privind fetele si expresiile, ascultand prezentarile si citind intrebarile de pe chat-uri…m-am simtit intr-un loc potrivit, fara a fi nevoie sa fac ceva anume. Prezenta voastra in acelasi loc cu prezenta mea, vivacitatea (aliveness) voastra la un loc cu curiozitatea mea, zumzetul din background al dorintei de a fi impreuna pentru a face astfel de schimburi…eu unul le-am perceput de-a lungul desfasurarii acestui Simpozion.
Si stim cu totii ca asta nu se poate intampla in afara unui bun cadru.
Apoi, chiar in cadrul ultimei prezentari, a inceput sa se simta celalalt zumzet…pur si simplu am avut senzatia ca o parte din cei prezenti se grabeau sa intrebe…si mai erau multe intrebari in aer si nu mai era timp, si…Ahh…In acelasi aer se afla si nevoia sa mai vorbim un pic
Va sunt recunoscator tuturor pentru ocazia de a vedea lumea relationala asa…multumesc tuturor celor care au organizat acest eveniment nu doar pentru ca simpozionul a avut loc acum, in perioada asta pandemica ci si la inceput de an, un bun inceput. In acest simpozion am vazut inca odata confirmarea ca doar impreuna putem face lucrurile sa mearga.
Psih.Valentin Miu
Bucuresti, Romania
Email Valentin Miu
(clic aquí para español)
Marie Saba
A Proposal for Continued Discussion
I would like to start by thanking the people involved in the organization. I think all of us who participated felt that the result was excellent, which of course in our language is synonymous with good enough: the mistakes and obstacles were enriching, generating new solutions and experiences.
I consider that it is an honor for IARPP to organize a Symposium offering the high quality of papers presented by important authors. They have all been able to think about how their theoretical proposals and clinical experiences help us not only to live in the best way during this world crisis due to the pandemic, but also to allow us to learn, create and relate better thanks to this situation.
Matt suggests that this commentary should be of no more than 500 words, which seems to me extremely appropriate, but leaves no room to address each of the papers in particular and the commentaries on them, as they well deserve. So here´s an idea to solve this problem, but you will have to continue reading to find the proposal below.
I was fortunate to have access to the papers before the symposium, in order to be able to translate and edit the translations, and I am grateful for the confidence of the authors in giving me their texts with the conviction that the fidelity to the original work would be maintained. Being able to read and think about the papers ahead of time leads me to think that the presentations could be the gateway, an initial approach to get a general idea of the text, giving us the pleasure of savoring it and leaving us with the desire to continue later on. An event with these characteristics, i.e., listening to and participating in several papers in a few hours, does not allow enough time for a thorough study of them. These papers deserve and need more time for discussion and re-reading.
So from IARPP-Peru, I would like to invite you all to participate in meetings, organized in study groups of 15, to review these works, in Spanish. (Those interested, please write to me at editorial [at] espaciogradiva.com.) I hope this initiative will generate similar ideas in other languages. I also believe that a future written symposium publication, electronic or physical, of the papers and comments presented – together with Steven Kuchuck’s introductory words and Margaret Black’s final comments – could be organized. It would be a gift from IARPP to the psychoanalytic community both inside and outside the relational field.
It has been a pleasure to be able to meet again virtually, to listen and see each other’s faces. This confinement shouldn’t turn into isolation. We need to be able to benefit from the advantages that this type of communication offers us.
Cariños from Peru. Take good care of yourselves.
Marie Saba, Ph.D.
Lima, Peru
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Marie Saba
Propuesta para Seguir Conversando
Quisiera empezar por agradecer a las personas involucradas en la organización, creo que todos los que participamos sentimos que el resultado fue excelente, lo que por supuesto en nuestro lenguaje es sinónimo de “suficientemente bueno”: los errores y obstáculos enriqueciendo, generando nuevas soluciones y experiencias.
Considero que es para IARPP un honor organizar un Simposio que cuente con la calidad de los trabajos presentados: son todos autores de mucho peso quienes han podido pensar en cómo sus propuestas teóricas y su experiencia clínica nos ayudan no solo a vivir de la mejor manera esta crisis mundial por la pandemia, nos permiten también aprender, crear y relacionarnos mejor gracias esta situación.
Matt sugiere que este comentario sea de aproximadamente 500 palabras, lo que me parece sumamente adecuado, pero me deja sin lugar a comentar cada uno de los trabajos en particular, y los comentarios sobre los mismos, como bien se merecen. Les propongo una idea para solucionar este problema, pero tendrán que seguir leyendo estas líneas para encontrar la propuesta más adelante.
Tuve la suerte de tener acceso a leer los trabajos antes del simposio, para poder traducir y editar las traducciones, agradezco también la confianza de los autores en entregarme su texto con el convencimiento que se mantendría la fidelidad hacia el trabajo original. Poder leer y pensar los trabajos con tiempo me lleva a pensar que el seminario, con todo el respeto que se merece, solo debe ser la puerta de entrada hacia los trabajos presentados. Un evento con estas características, es decir, escuchar y participar de varios trabajos en pocas horas no permite el tiempo suficiente para el detenido estudio de los mismos. Estos trabajos merecen y necesitan más tiempo para la discusión y relectura, casi me atrevería a decir que lo que permite es una primera aproximación, hacernos una idea general del texto, darnos el gusto de saborearlo y dejarnos con las ganas para poder asimilarlo realmente más adelante.
Desde IARPP Perú quisiera proponerles participar de las reuniones, a modo de grupo de estudio, organizado para revisar estos trabajos, en español. (Los interesados por favor escribir a editorial [at] espaciogradiva.com.) Espero que en otros idiomas se genere la misma iniciativa. Creo también que se podría organizar la publicación escrita, electrónica o en físico, de los trabajos y comentarios presentados, junto con las palabras introductorias de Steven Kuchuck y los comentarios finales de Margaret Black. Sería un regalos de IARPP a la comunidad psicoanalítica tanto dentro como fuera del ámbito relacional.
Ha sido un gusto poder reencontrarnos virtualmente, volver a escucharnos y vernos las caras, este aislamiento necesitamos la contraparte y poder aprovechar de las ventajas que este tipo de comunicación nos brinda.
Muchos cariños a todos desde Perú, cuídense mucho.
Marie Saba, Ph.D.
Lima, Peru
Email Marie Saba
John Sloane
Authentic Meeting
What a heart-warming, mind-expanding, deeply-reconnecting conference that was!
I wish I could retrieve each face, name, voice and voice tone that resonated with me and sparked refreshingly non-toxic trains of thought. In these times of all-out assault on truth, life and democratic ways of relational self-governance, there were so many voices of genuine concern, curiosity and self-reflective honesty about our part in the micro- and macro-enactments that are otherwise so destructive! It gave me “faith” in the relational Unconscious to do whatever it does through authentic meetings of minds and hearts, whether we’re able to remember them or not.
One image that stays with me is the anguished face of the lady who spoke at the very end, asking the question, “What can we do?!” The primal density of her grief, fear, rage and vulnerable need/ desire to contribute were palpable even remotely – even more than in person across a crowded room. In fact, that’s one of the things that was most meaningful to me – being able to see the whites of each presenter’s eyes, up close and personal.
Powerful!
So were the small discussion groups where we could see and be seen, hear and be heard. I was reminded of Robbie Burns’ poem, “To a Louse” (ironically appropriate to what so many people in high places are unable to see of the effects of their own contempt).
O would some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see ourselves as others see us.
It was an amazingly graceful gathering that moved us all in relational directions which can be excruciating in times of original trauma resurfacing globally with its deadly “doer/done-to” dangers to self and other.
The last lady’s pain, and the sadness of several as we were coming to the end of the deep connection we all need so much, enabled me to resonate with the grief that Steven Kuchuck gave voice to, passing on his role as our leader over the last few years. It is exactly that loss of deep feeling-connection, “thinking in union,” as Hazel Ipp said, as well as the loss of our infantile omniscience and omnipotence (“knowing what to do”) that we are learning to bear and mourn, together. Having company in that dark, powerless, not-knowing, “not-me” place enables transformation of basic trust and mistrust, and a rebirth of effective inter- or trans-subjective agency – with who-knows-what ripple effects.
The whole world is in need of access to those earliest states of mutual recognition between mother and infant that can hold and survive our destructiveness, gradually holding one another responsible, lest there be further breakdown and polarization of Black and White, divine Right from deplorable Wrong. Cynthia Chalker’s presentation was especially powerful, gracious and humbling. Black ‘blues,’ wisdom and compassion matter! And Chana Ullman’s response was very illuminating of the notion that the term “post-traumatic” is misleading when the trauma is ongoing. That trauma is not only from the pandemic, but also from the viral spread of a basic assumption that what we need is absolute power and authority over dangerous or degraded “others.”
As one person in our last discussion group said, the massive breakdown of identities and boundaries we are going through may also be a breakthrough that enables us to see, accept, re-integrate and learn to use what we’re made of for peaceful, health-promoting purposes – even repair of the past! There can also be playful innovation and re-formulation of familiar frames for a variety of colourful, in-your-face costumes and nakedness, as illustrated by Shlomit Yadlin-Gadot in her imaginative presentation on “Carnivalesque Politics.”
As Freud wrote to Einstein in 1932:
If the propensity for war be due to the destructive instinct, we have always its counter-agent, Eros, to our hand. All that produces ties of sentiment between man and man must serve us as war’s antidote… The psychoanalyst need feel no compunction in mentioning ‘love’ in this connexion; religion uses the same language, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’ A pious injunction, easy to enounce, but hard to carry out! The other bond of sentiment is by way of identification. All that brings out the significant resemblances between men, calls into play this feeling of community, identification, whereon is founded, in large measure, the whole edifice of human society.
(“Why War?”)
So much to digest!
Deep thanks to everyone involved.
John A. Sloane, M.D.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Email John Sloane
