As we move forward in 2025, we are excited to announce that we will soon have the opportunity to meet in person once again! The IARPP Annual Conference will take place in Athens, Greece, from June 19 to 22, offering a valuable opportunity to learn, engage in dialogue, and connect with our global psychoanalytic community.

The Candidates Committee encourages all members and candidates to join the Candidate Reception, a meaningful gathering that takes place every year during the IARPP Annual Conference, designed to foster meaningful connections among colleagues worldwide. This informal yet significant moment provides the opportunity to meet fellow candidates, get to know IARPP members, and introduce ourselves to the wider community, strengthening our sense of belonging and integration within the relational psychoanalytic field.

We are also pleased to introduce this year’s Candidates Panel, an opportunity for psychoanalytic candidates to share their work with the wider IARPP community. This year’s panel is entitled, “Negotiating the Third: Power Dynamics and Vulnerability within the Relational Supervisory Relationship.”

Selected from a number of outstanding submissions, the panel will feature presentations by Daphne Venetsanou (Greece), Claudia Morillo (Spain), Manali Arora (India), and Masoud Asadi (Iran).

This year, the Candidates Panel will have the honor of welcoming Margaret Black Mitchell (USA) as the interlocutor. We are deeply grateful for this occasion.

We are also pleased to share that, following our previous announcement, the annual Candidates Committee webinar took place on April 6th, 2025. We would like to warmly thank all those who participated, as the level of engagement and interest from candidates across the globe made the event especially meaningful. We are deeply grateful to Robert Grossmark (USA) for leading this year’s webinar, titled “Enactment: Its Provocation by the Analyst.” Dr. Grossmark offered a rich and thought-provoking presentation that sparked lively reflections and conversations within our international candidate community.

This new year has also brought a significant change within the Candidates Committee. We would like to warmly thank our colleague Lissa Schaupp (USA) for her dedication and invaluable contributions during her time as Co-Chair. Her generosity, thoughtful presence, and consistent support for candidates around the world have greatly enriched the work of our committee and helped it thrive in recent years.

At the same time, we are pleased to welcome Konstantinos Mouchalos (Greece) as the new Co-Chair of the Candidates Committee. Konstantinos has been an active and valued member of the committee for many years, and we are confident that his commitment and relational spirit will continue to strengthen our community. We wish him all the best as he steps into this new role!

We eagerly look forward to gathering in Athens—to reconnect, exchange ideas, and cultivate new relationships. Stay tuned for further updates, and we can’t wait to see you there!

Warm regards,

Afarin Kohan (Canada) and Konstantinos Mouchalos (Greece), Candidates Committee Co-Chairs

Afarin Kohan, MD, FRCPC
Toronto, Canada
Email Afarin Kohan

Konstantinos Mouchalos, Pg.D.
Glyfada, Greece
Email Konstantinos Mouchalos