You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The Finnish psychoanalyst (MSc in Political Sciences) Christina Hägglund-Nikkanen passed away on 16 February 2009 after a prolonged illness at the age of 47.
Prior to her psychoanalytic training, Christina qualified as a psychotherapist in 2001. She became an associate member of the Finnish Psychoanalytical Society in 2007. During her final years, she worked both in private practice as a psychoanalyst and as a manager at an addiction health-care center. Christina was deeply rooted in the Finnish psychoanalytic tradition through her family: her mother, her father, who died in 2004, and her brother are all well-known psychoanalysts in Finland.
Christina was deeply committed to her work and also very devoted to her family. She had a husband and two daughters. In addition to caring for her family, she liked reading books in her spare time. Among her favorite authors were, e.g., Milan Kundera and the Finnish poet Edith Södergran.
Christina was an honest and warm person and her genuine interest in people could be felt by those around her. This attitude, together with an exceptionally strong contact with the realities of life, provided the basis of her psychoanalytic work. Christina was able to stay anchored to reality even when she was challenged by her illness. On the other hand, we could often feel refreshment through her good sense of humor which also deepened our feeling of togetherness. Although Christina enjoyed reflective thoughts with others, she typically went on her own as well—that may be one of the reasons she enjoyed wandering around on wide landscapes in Lapland.
We have lost a gifted psychoanalyst and a loveable friend. As her seminar colleagues and friends, we are grateful for all we have shared with her and feel that she will stay vividly alive in our minds in the years to come.