Looking back at our 2026 public lecture series

Between January and May 2026, several LAAP members delivered a series of lectures open to the public entitled ‘Personal, Cultural and Symbolic Sources of Resilience in Life’s Turmoil’. The lecture series, dedicated to resilience in the face of trauma, attracted considerable public interest. This confirmed our assumption that these topics are of great relevance to many people. It is no surprise that the National M. Mažvydas Library provided the venue for our lectures.

The series was begun by psychologist and psychotherapist Irma Skruibienė, who started by discussing personal sources of resilience. She spoke about the resources needed to create a safe home, which can be drawn from personal, cultural and universal human experience. She also touched upon the theme of the ‘inner home’, where one can feel safe regardless of external changes or crises. The subsequent lectures in the series were delivered by Jungian psychoanalysts, each choosing a different aspect of trauma and resilience to explore.

Between 13 January and 16 February, there was a lecture by Elona Lovčikienė, which testified to the power of the imagination in overcoming trauma and its consequences. She was inspired by the way Lithuanian cultural figures – artists, writers, poets and spiritual leaders – have grown after experiencing trauma, and by creativity as the most important factor in this process. The imagery of artists such as Teresė Marija Rožanskaitė, Rimantas Dichavičius, and Gražina Didelytė was examined through the lens of trauma overcoming.

Dovilė Petronytė Kvedarauskienė explored how a connection to their culture assisted the people of Lithuania through turbulent times. She emphasized that, in crisis, important cultural symbols cannot be imposed or bought. Symbols emerge when they are needed most, and they provide strength if we allow them to. In the context of the war in Ukraine, which has inevitably affected Lithuanian society, the discussion focused on Lithuanian songs that help people cope, including “Tavo akys” (“Your Eyes”) by the rock band Katarsis.

Several lectures explored the profound transformations within a single individual. Egidija Šeputytė-Vaitulevičienė devoted her lecture to the mystical vision of the poet Oskaras Milašius, as described in the poem “Pažinimo giesmė” (“Canticle of Knowledge”). During the lecture, examining this work from the perspective of Jungian psychology, she sought to answer what it means to discover, in the poet’s words, ‘the key to the world of light’ and ‘the key to the world of darkness’.

Jelena Guseva told a story of ‘loneliness and the immortal soul’, created by a person who struggled with suicidal thoughts and other consequences of early trauma and emotional neglect. By revealing his symbolic life — his dreams, the images of his active imagination, and the worlds he created in the sand — she highlighted the significance of the divine child archetype for personal transformation.

The lecture series ended with a talk by Goda Rukšaitė, who returned to the connection between artistic imagery and resilience. Using the image of stone as a symbol of resilience, she referred to the example of Carl Gustav Jung and the alchemical concept of the philosopher’s stone. Illustrating her points with examples from the work of stone master Vilius Orvidas and other artists, she discussed how art serves to create inner balance.

Elona Lovčikienė

Organiser of the LAAP open lecture series