IMPOTENT LONGING.
Psychodynamic work between apathy and utopia

B.I.R.D. Dialogue I: CONTACT EVENT
19.09.2025 18:45

LANGUAGES English & German (with translation)
Free admission Donations welcome
Visit SAVVY is wheelchair accessible

PROGRAM

18:45

ARRIVAL & DINNER

19:30

WELCOME

19:45

LECTURE
Ana Antic
Imagining the Other: Historical and Contemporary Discourses of Power, Politics, and Neutrality in Psy-Disciplines

20:30

FISHBOWL
B.I.R.D. Dialogue

21:30

GETTING TOGETHER
with talks, drinks and music

You are cordially invited to the kick-off of the "B.I.R.D. Dialog" series, which deals with the following topics in various formats:

The world is undergoing profound change: wars, humanitarian disasters as well as the climate crisis are leading to divisions in social and professional relationships. Political alliances are breaking down and values that were previously thought to be stable are beginning to falter. A simplistic focus on the defense against migration movements - which result from these crises - seems like a desperate attempt to regain control over a complex and threatening reality.

A precise description of the current situation is hardly possible. What seemed important just a moment ago may be overtaken or exacerbated by new developments just a short time later. Even the choice of topics or terms carries the risk of being categorized into political camps. Conversations threaten to fall silent even before mutual listening and understanding is possible.

The effects of these upheavals can also be felt in our treatments - in the perceptions and emotions of our patients as well as in our own. The political is penetrating therapeutic work in a new form and with increasing vehemence. The loss of spaces that were thought to be safe promotes anxiety and feelings of powerlessness. Maintaining a protected therapeutic space is becoming more difficult, and not just when working with people who have experienced flight or migration.

While migration and racism have long been addressed in Germany through so-called intercultural openness, transculturality or specifically intercultural psychotherapy, there are now stronger calls for psychotherapy that is sensitive to racism or power. However, even these existing approaches appear inadequate when it comes to grasping the complex social conditions and transformations.

What attitude(s) are needed in our psychotherapeutic and counseling work in order to counter these rapid upheavals?

On the following day, September 20, 2025, B.I.R.D. will also be offering a full-day workshop for colleagues working psychodynamically. Further information here: dialog.b-i-r-d.de.