We could say that this issue extends its content to link psychotherapy to politics, that is to say, the art of living as a citizen, as a member of society and a member of the wider systems.
It begins with Marcelo Pakman commenting on a clinical case and the role of the therapist, relating it to the way Sartre perceived the ways in which a person becomes aware of himself and his environment. It then expands on how neo-liberal market logic has influenced psychotherapy today.
Kia Thanopoulou, in turn, refers to the therapeutic journey that moves and explores the inner world of both the therapist and the therapist in a reciprocal interaction, and how they evolve over time.
Nikos Marketos focuses on exploiting the systemic view of psychiatric reform and how systematic thinking helps, in modern political and social chaos, to emerge a new organized complexity.
Following is the text by Katia Charalabaki, referring to what remains and what has changed over the 25 years of the Pagrati Family Therapy Unit, and how this unit has remained faithful to human values, but has differentiated and evolved the daily practice in psychotherapy through the experiences of the therapists.
Also of interest are a series of texts derived from the presentation of the book on "Psychotherapy and Policy Associates", published by HESTAFTA, which was edited by Katia Charalabaki.
Katerina Matsa refers to the book, saying that it is a way of resisting the alienation-personalization that prevails today, and wonders how the therapist can manage to rescue human values, operating in such a climate. She goes on to say that alienation is dual, both social and mental, and you cannot ignore either.
Kostas Isichos talks about capitalism, aimed at the globalized, but controlled by the few, and in the daily lives of individuals as products, not as subjects, to conclude the need to move away from the fragmentation and narcissism cultivated by the system in order to build collective memory.
Gregory Maniadakis comments on the articles, saying that the publication of a book is a collective act, and especially in a time of crisis for society as a whole, the involvement of psychotherapists contributes to a more immediate understanding and benefits from its collective mental processing.
Painter Kyriakos Katzourakis refers to the inseparable relationship of politics, art and psychoanalysis that are bound together in an inner need and suggests to look back so as to enlighten today.
Finally, Thanasis Skamnakis, in a reflection on Kyriakos Katzourakis's text, introduces us to a fantastic scene “… as silence, gestures and intelligence have escaped from the room, the invited Samarakis rises silently, puts on his coat and leaves. No one realized his departure; they didn’t need to.”
So, what will we each and every one of us devise, as groups, families, therapists or societies, in order to keep silence, gestures and intellect in the room and take responsibility for our actions?
“You receive lightning from Jupiter
And the world obeys you. So go ahead
Spring is up to you. Speed up the lightning”
(Odysseas Elitis, Mikros Nautilos)
Amid Autumn, happy Springs! Happy reading! For the editorial committee:
Katerina Theodoraki