The Collective has had its ebbs and flows. We have wavered between relatively long periods of silence and other periods of group talk. We have wondered what the different modes of silence are about.

Our world has relentlessly supplied us with enough “material” to enable us to interminably speak and avoid silence. From coronavirus to Ukraine, from attacks on liberalism to nationalism, and of course global pollution of our environment/global warming, there are certainly enough socio/political/cultural processes entering our souls and our therapeutic relationships. What does our silence say and feel?

Most recently, in response to a suggested reading (by Gabriela Gusita) of a paper written by one of the Collective’s co-founders (Eyal Rozmarin), a question was raised: Is it possible that the Collective has served its task and should be disbanded? We wondered why an important, stimulating paper on belonging should result in a suggestion to terminate the group. The suggestion was received with a significant number of unusually passionate responses in favor of the Collective’s continued existence and reminding us of its unique and essential purpose. It seems that the conflict between prohibition and seeking to learn is quite vital. And what now?

The Collective remains a wished-for place, a place where important social and existential conflicts of our daily lives can be contemplated by a relational psychoanalytic community in a relatively open, free and growth-enhancing way.

To end with a quote from Irigaray (2017, p. 50), bridging the subjective, intersubjective and collective:

… passing from the solitary self-affection that can happen with the lips, the hands, the eyelids touching one another to the self-affection that can exist between two sexuate bodies in kissing or embracing. This represents a crucial stage in going from oneself as individual to community without losing the possibility of staying in oneself that self-affection grants.

Mitchel Becker (Israel), Chair

Mitchel Becker, Ph.D.
Raanana, Israel
Email Mitchel Becker