“Psychic Change: Developments in the Theory of Psychoanalytic Technique” was the resounding theme of the 37th Congress of the IPA. Six papers on this topic—by Michael Basch (Chicago), Alvin Frank (St. Louis), Roberto Speziale Bagliacca (Genoa), Elizabeth Tabak de Bianchedi (APDEBA), Peter Fonagy and George Moran (London), and Benzion Winograd (APA)—were published in advance of the Congress, appearing in English in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, in French in the Revue Francaise de Psychoanalyse, in German in the Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalytische Theorie und Praxis, and in Spanish in the Revista de Psicoanalisis of Argentina.
This choice of theme, said Harold Blum, keynote speaker and chair of the Scientific Program Committee, was intended to focus the Congress on an issue “at the heart of contemporary psychoanalytic interests.” Its various dimensions were explored in plenary presentations throughout the week. On Monday Sidney Pulver (Philadelphia) and Jorge Garcia Badaracco (APA) addressed the topic of “Concepts of Change: Clinical Assessment,” while on Tuesday Pablo Cuevas Corona (Mexico) and Alain Gibeault (Paris) held forth on “Aspects of Change: From Theory to Practice.” Finally, on Thursday, Betty Joseph (London) and Alan Parkin (Toronto) reversed the process and considered “Aspects of Change: From Practice to Theory.”
On Friday President Joseph Sandler reprised the Congress's theme, and a panel consisting of Arnold Cooper (New York), Horacio Etchegoyen (APDEBA), and Stefania Manfredi Turilazzi (Firenze) attempted an overview of the week's proceedings. This was followed by a masterful discussion and synthesis by Harold Blum.
An event of particular importance was the inclusion within the meetings of a Congress virgule Pre-Congress Panel on Psychoanalytic Education. The theme of the Pre-Congress on Education had been “Between Chaos and Petrification: Problems in the Integration of different Theoretico-Clinical Frameworks in the training of the Psychoanalyst.” The joint panel was the fruit of the devoted efforts of many, most particularly Harold Blum and Otto Kernberg (both of whom stressed the importance of giving the general membership, including candidates, a forum for the exchange of ideas regarding training). Long-awaited, the panel was an undisputed success. Joining Blum and Kernberg as panelists were Kenneth Calder (New York), Mario Gomberoff (Chile), and Anne W. Hayman (London), with Janice de Saussure (Geneva) moderating. Their thoughtful, experienced perspectives on such topics as the advisability of exposing candidates to theoretical divergence stimulated lively discussion from the floor, involving both recent graduates and many candidates as well as more seasoned hands.
Another offering introduced for the first time at an international Congress (and in the view of many long overdue) was a panel on Multilingualism in the Psychoanalytic Process. The subject, of growing interest within the membership, is one for which the IPA seems a natural forum, but it was finally the efforts of Secretary Jacqueline Amati-Mehler, together with Simona Argentieri and Jorge Canestri of Rome (her coauthors on the as yet untranslated La Babele dell' Inconscio), that gave impetus to the formation of a panel. It included Anna Maria Rizutto (Boston) and was chaired by Anne Marie Sandler (London); heavily attended, it drew active participation from its audience. Among several distinguished contributors from the floor, Harold Blum, commenting on several vignettes presented on the subject of multilingualism and splits, spoke of a young woman patient who among her many symptoms developed disturbances of consciousness and the incapacity to speak her native German; for periods of time she spoke only English, though able to read both French and German! Thus with humor Blum reminded the panelists that this “novel” subject is part of the very origins of psychoanalysis.
Another extraordinarily successful panel was the one on social violence. Held for the first time in Rome two years earlier, it was attended by a sizable audience; as might have been expected, in this area of the world it drew an enormous crowd.
Among other salient events Milton Jucovy (New York) received the Elise Hayman award for Psychoanalytic Contributions to Holocaust Studies, while Organizing Committee Co-Secretary Sara Zac de Filc (APDEBA), drew a standing-room-only audience with her paper “Psychic Change in the Analyst”; it reflected besides her considerable scientific talents, the rapidly growing interest in the area of “the analyst's mind.”
In general, the dual emphasis at Buenos Aires on the presentation of clinical material and on exposure to different psychoanalytic models (in Argentina the erudition of local psychoanalysts in various theoretical approaches is remarkable) resulted in a richness of dialogue rarely experienced at international meetings. In the opinion of Otto Kernberg, this was “one of the least confrontational meetings in recent memory, truly an example of inquiry and openness to study.”