It was not a conscious intention of the Editorial Committee that, in the second issue of our electronic magazine, most topics relate to the effects of the crisis in the therapists’ life and work. The reason is that, one way or another, and beyond peoples’ pain and suffering, we are all experiencing a profound crisis of institutions and relationships.
One could say that it is the first instance since Bateson’s time, with the emergence of the systemic epistemology, where psychotherapy and politics have come so close: leaving aside mutual suspicion, which has led both to either hostile or “secret love-affair” attitudes, we now see them openly conversing and partnering.
The second issue of “Systemic Thinking & Psychotherapy” is marked by yet another trait: it contains contributions from three (and perhaps more) generations of therapists, from our Teacher George Vassiliou and the psychotherapists of today, to younger colleagues who document unprecedented experiences from their psychotherapeutic education. It could be seen as an “open dialogue” between “moments in our history” which, of course, highlights existential questions and dilemmas but, at the same time, enriches us as therapists and human beings.
Diogenes, whether “seeking Anthropos” or spitting in his master’s face, is leading us again to reflect on ourselves, our families, our clients’ families, the therapists’ “family”, the institutions we have inherited and created, which are now facing the risk of destruction, and to pursue new meanings.
For the Editorial Committee
Katia Charalabaki