Contributing to the Scientific Development of Psychoanalysis, the Working Parties





Working parties stimulate professional development and promote inter and intraregional integration. They have proven to be useful tools for reflecting on clinical work, developing psychoanalytic listening, and understanding concepts and analytic training. 

In this webinar, four members of the IPA's Working Parties Committee will discuss how working parties are contributing to the scientific development of psychoanalysis. Ruggero Levy will provide an overview of the Working Parties Committee, its structure and activities, and how the committee helps to achieve the IPA's strategic objectives. Bernard Reith will outline his experiences with working parties and explain the common principle behind all working party methods. Marie Rudden will discuss how comparative clinical methods groups help groups of analysts to speak together and learn from each other through a structured methodology that aims to capture the work of experienced analysts from a variety of theoretical backgrounds. Finally, Agustina Fernandez will speak about the history of FEPAL working parties, the current state of working parties in Latin America, and about the symposiums that are organised by the Working Party Committee at FEPAL Congresses.


Ruggero Levy - Psychoanalyst, full member and training analyst of the Psychoanalytic Society of Porto Alegre (SPPA), and the current Chair of the IPA's Working Parties Committee. He is a former President of the SPPA, former Director of the SPPA's Institute of Psychoanalysis, former Scientific Director of SPPA and former Treasurer of SPPA. He is Co-chair for Latin America of the Working Party on the Specificity of Psychoanalysis Today, and a Professor and Supervisor of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in the courses of Specialisation on Children, Adolescent and Adult Psychotherapy. He was an IPA Board member from 2011-2013 and 2013-2015, and has authored many scientific papers published in regional, national and international psychoanalytic reviews. 

Bernard Reith - Co-Chair for Europe of the IPA Working Parties Committee. He is Training Analyst and President of the Swiss Psychoanalytical Society, past Chair of the Working Party on Initiating Psychoanalysis (WPIP) of the European Psychoanalytic Federation and Board Member for the Analyst at Work section of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and on the editorial board of the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. He has co-edited the book Initiating Psychoanalysis: Perspectives (2012) and is co-author of the book Beginning Analysis: Processes in Initiating Psychoanalysis (2018).

Marie Rudden - Training and supervising analyst at the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute, and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell School of Medicine. She is the North American Co-chair of the IPA's Working Parties Committee, and Co-chair of the North American editorial board of the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. 
She is co-author of The Psychodynamic Treatment of Depression (American Psychiatric Press), which is now in its second edition, and has written widely about her research on Reflective Functioning as a potential mediator or moderator of psychotherapy outcome, on the psychodynamic treatment of panic disorder, and on various topics, such as analysands' fantasies about their different self-states. She has conducted research and written several papers on regressive group processes and their impact on the group leader.

Agustina Fernandez - Psychoanalyst, Adherent Member of the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association. Psychologist, Honour Diploma, Buenos Aires University. PhD student, El Salvador University. Co-chair for Latin America of the Working Parties Committee, International Psychoanalytic Association. Member of the Working Party on Specificity of Psychoanalytic Treatment in Latin America (since 2012). Deputy Director of the Community and Culture, Latin American Psychoanalytic Federation. Member of the Scientific Secretary, Argentine Psychoanalytic Association. Professor and Associate at the Psychoanalysis Institute “Ángel Garma”, Argentine Psychoanalytic Association. Co-chair of the Working Parties Commission, Latin American Psychoanalytic Federation (2014-2016). Member of the Publishing Commission, Argentine Psychoanalytic Association (2013-2016). Member of the Working Parties Commission, Latin American Psychoanalytic Federation (2012-2014). Author of chapters and articles in books and psychoanalytic magazines.



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Please note, this webinar will be delivered in English. 

Working Parties Webinar