Greetings to all IARPP colleagues.

In recent months the Portuguese chapter has been intensely involved in the design and promotion of outreach activities for psychoanalysis and relational psychotherapy, together with its local partners. Below are four courses currently under way. Since March 12th all our activities are being conducted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introductory Course on Psychoanalytic Thinking of Clinical Cases: This course provides an accessible and concise introduction to psychoanalytic understanding of mental functioning and the principles and processes of intervention in psychoanalytic psychotherapies. The course is designed for those who want to begin to deepen their knowledge of contemporary/relational psychoanalytic ideas and how they are applied to working with patients. It is led by two clinical psychologists and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, Bernardo Couto and Miguel Moita, both of whom are members of IARPP-Portugal and Associação Portuguesa de Psicoterapia Psicanalítica.

Conference Series: Introduction to Philosophy, Phenomenology and Hermeneutics Issues (around Psychoanalysis): Led by Professor Nuno Miguel Proença, PhD of CHAM (Humanities Center of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, New University of Lisbon), this undertaking consists of a series of 15 conferences, centering on such topics as “Knowing, knowing and proving: About psychoanalysis,” “What is a psychoanalytic fact?,” “Truth, meaning and interpretation,” and “Unconscious, suffering and fruition in a phenomenology of life,” among many other subjects.

The Experiential Conference Cycle: “Integrating Somatic into Psychotherapeutic Process”: These meetings aim to facilitate the recognition of the Body and Being-Body in the work of the psychotherapist with his or her patients. The focus is on bringing participants closer to the body as a way of accessing non-formulated and nonverbal experience in both participants. The cycle takes the form of eight interdependent conferences of two hours each, where active learning is facilitated by demonstrations and experiential exercises, accompanied by recommended readings. The cycle is led by Howard Sonenklar, whose long career includes teaching Motion Studies, Contact Improvisation and Somatic Integration Techniques.

Seminar Cycle: “Creative State and Poetic Expression in the Psychotherapeutic Process”: In this seminar cycle, Rita Pitschieller Pupo, a poet, will challenge participants to create a body of writing through direct access to their own conditioned experience through poetic expression. During eight sessions of two hours each, exercises and stimuli will be presented to unlock a piece of writing, with the aim of feeding the creative states of mind as facilitators of the psychotherapeutic process. Participants will maintain a clinical diary that will provide essential material for the sessions. Readings and open dialogues with writers will also be proposed.

Miguel Moita, President
Bernardo Couto, Board Member
IARPP-Portugal

Miguel Moita
Email Miguel Moita