About the Conference

Over the last decades, the challenges of living in the times of rapid change and the need for transformation an individual faces in a modern society have been at the centre of many discussions.  Transition from an authoritarian system to a democratic one, migration and encounters of different cultures enable the emergence of new models of relationships and new senses of identity. Searching for the self and experiencing the variety of its manifestations, relating to one’s  cultural context  and staying open  to the other cultures are important themes of both cultural studies and psychotherapy research. Analytical psychology provides a good theoretical basis for understanding the process of individual’s transformation and the role of culture in it.  The aim of the Vilnius conference is to further discuss the interconnectedness between psychotherapy and culture, research and practice. Such a discussion may lead to a deeper understanding of the healing process in an individual and of his creativity as well. Studying creativity and its development is a very important and complicated task of modern research in psychology. As C.G. Jung noted, ”All creative act, being rooted in the immensity of the unconscious, will forever elude our attempts at understanding. It describes itself only in its manifestations; it can be guessed at, but never wholly grasped. Psychology and aesthetics will always have to turn to one another for help, and the one will not invalidate the other”. Creating narratives and listening to them may be the process through which creative power emerges and an individual may grasp it and witness its reality. It may also be the moment when deeper understanding of the psyche goes together with the sense of beauty and meaning.
Exploring the stories from the past and searching for the manifestations of self (be it individual or cultural), studying the individual’s healing process and the role of psychotherapy in it, reflections on our professional identity and the role of culture in it will all be the themes of the conference in Vilnius.
We are very happy to have a number of prominent speakers from different universities to join the conference. Professors Joe Cambray, Toshio Kawai, Alessandra de Coro, Verena Kast, Eckhard Frick and Dr. Murray Stein have agreed to speak at the conference along with our colleagues from Eastern Europe – Professors Danutė Gailienė, Vykintas Vaitkevičius,  as well as Vsevold Kalinenko,  Vera Zabelina and others.
We hope that the meetings at the Vilnius conference will bring new insights into the processes of modern times and will inspire the participants to further collaborate in the field of analytical theory, practice and research. 

1. C.G.Jung Psychology and literature. The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature. Princeton University Press,1978,p.87

 

 

In this administration, the IAAP has initiated a series of new conferences under the category of   “Joint Conferences IAAP /University”. The aim of this project is to foster cooperation between the IAAP and interested universities and to enhance the visibility of analytical psychology at universities, to place the theory of analytical psychology in relation to recent research, to continue promoting psychotherapy research and building bridges between clinicians and academics as well as to deepen the relations between the two disciplines. These conferences are also aimed at facilitating opportunities for university students to learn about analytical psychology on a more frequent and in-depth basis.
When the IAAP approached Jungian analysts who are involved with universities and introduced this project, numerous colleagues responded to the appeal. Professor Grazina Gudaite was the first who submitted a proposal for a joint conference of the IAAP with the University of Vilnius. We are most grateful for this initiative and for the excellent cooperation of the University that made this conference possible. With the participation of Jungian analysts from all over the world, especially from Eastern and Western Europe together with the local academics, it has been possible to put together a well-founded and relevant programme. The title of the Joint Conference IAAP/Vilnius University is: “Research in Psychotherapy and Culture: Exploring Narratives of Identity“. This theme ties in with the research already conducted at the University of Vilnius. Cultural and psychosocial connections within psychotherapy research will be one of the topics and, in this respect, the conference addresses psychological issues with reference to the geographical location of the host country.
A second “Joint Conference IAAP /University” is scheduled in October 2018 at the University of Basel. The title of this conference is: “Theoretical Foundations of Analytical Psychology: Recent Developments and Controversies“. The programmes of the two initial joint conferences make clear the extent to which these events will be characterised by the tradition, research programme and culture of each university, but also by each host country and its history. At the forefront of this project will be the encounter between analytical psychology and the locally developed and locally shaped research. Therefore, each conference will have its own character and its own priorities, depending on whether it is held in Europe, Latin America, Asia or in the USA. However, the emphasis will lie on exchange, mutual inspiration and further development of analytical psychology.
Marianne Müller, IAAP president