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>Forum der Psychoanalyse<, which holds a firm place in the German-speaking world today, was founded in 1984 in a rugged landscape of psychoanalysis in Germany that was the consequence of the malignant group processes that had occurred between psychoanalytic societies after World War II. The Forum's foundation was guided by the idea of creating a constructive climate between the rivalrous groups and moderating the gap between them, given the increasing recognition of the shared history of psychoanalysis in Germany that had started to take root in the 1980s. Emphasizing the common ground in psychoanalytic theory and practice, the >Forum< is open to all psychoanalysts, to discussions of the various psychoanalytic trends, and to contemporary interdisciplinary dialogue. It promotes exchanges between psychoanalytic societies, and is also meant as a bridge to the development of psychoanalysis abroad.
In the present time of increasing global stress and threats from outside reality, there arise >new fears< of destruction, of annihilation, and of loss of existence. As a consequence, psychoanalysis is faced with new challenges. It is expanding its range to face the fears that arise from these global threats. This requires special attention to analysts’ personal transference and their resistance against it to enable them to be used as a container for the fears of their patients.
Psychoanalysis meeting the challenges of globalisation: Commentary on Cláudio Laks Eizirik's paper
(2009)
Identity and structure as signifiers of the unconscious are in flux as a result of the evaporation of the relations in the modern world. The author develops some hypotheses on the input of the changing identity in respect to the psychoanalytic encounter in therapy and to processes in institutions. He comes to the conclusion that the orientation to the individual dynamics, the therapy room and the therapeutic relationship, which is at present substantial for most analysts, will no longer be relevant. Whether we will be successful or not as psychoanalysts depends on whether we see the world growing together, share the responsibility for it and take up the burning questions of globalisation.
Psychoanalytical identity is more like a process than a state, reflecting the balance between the self and the expectations of the reference group. But what is the common ground where psychoanalysts can refer to facing changes in psychoanalytic theory and practice, especially in the direction of the intersubjective paradigm? In this paper, the traditional psychoanalytic attitude of an objective interpretation of the inner world of the patient is contrasted to the position that is the result of the intersubjective conception of the psychoanalytic process. The latter assigns the role of a co-player to the analyst. This has far-reaching consequences for the concept of abstinence, which are developed in this paper against a background of a short clinical vignette.
Editorial
(1992)