INDO-GERMAN CONFERENCE ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Psychoanalysis India Logo, Photo Credits: Psychoanalysis India
In the spirit of the Mental Health Week celebrations various institutions are organizing events in their own ways to propagate the knowledge and ideas about mental health. One such endeavor was undertaken by the Indian Psychoanalytic Society, Delhi; The Psychoanalytic Unit, Fortis Hospitals; and the Centre for Psychotherapy and Clinical Research, School of Human Studies, Ambedkar University. In order to exchange academic ideas and clinical practices a group of Psychoanalysts belonging to the Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy APB Berlin were invited to Delhi to present a series of lectures based on different themes. This event happened over a course of two days. These lectures were open to the students and practitioners within the field of psychology.
The lecture opened with an Introduction of the Psychoanalytic Training in Berlin and the different ways of training in Indian Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a discipline in Psychology and a therapeutic practice founded by Sigmund Freud. The training of psychoanalysts is an intensive one and such an exchange of ideas helps build insights.
Indo-German Clinical Workshop, Photo Credits: Psychoanalysis India
A prominent clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst and a lecturer at the Association for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy APB Berlin, UtaBlohm delivered a lecture on the Parent-Infant Psychotherapy where she articulated on the surrounding theoretical issues by discussing a case study of a 20 month old boy and his mother. The following lecture was delivered by another renowned doctor and psychoanalyst, family therapist and supervisor Dr. D. Adam Lauterbachwho talked about the Clinical Aspects of Sibling Relationships.
The second day unfolded with yet another series of lectures on themes like analyst-patient dynamic, models of group analysis and the current treatment technology that is being used. These lectures were delivered by notable psychoanalysts F. Blohm and Dr. Horzetzky.
Lectures delivered by psychoanalysts, APB Berlin, Photo Credits: Psychoanalysis India
These lectures were well received by the Indian psychologists and psychoanalysts. The students expressed awe and felt inspired by the new insights they gained.
According to Prachi Mehta, a student in the university, “such lectures take the clinical aspects of psychotherapy to another level. Understanding how therapy differs in different cultural spaces is interesting but what is even more interesting is how there are so many similarities in the way that people respond to therapy.”
With the current status of mental health in our country such events help not just in better training of our psychologists but also raises the level of psychotherapy in India.
