A European Psychohistory Conference

On April 17-19, 2015, about 85-95 colleagues of the Gesellschaft für Psychohistorie und Politische Psychologie e.V. (GPPP) came together for its annual meeting in an older hotel in one of the suburbs of Heidelberg, Germany to probe the emotional dimensions of the Enlightenment. The comfortable meeting room had ready access to a lovely patio where conference attendees drank coffee, ate pastries, smoked, and talked during breaks. Ludwig Janus moderated the sessions, which were held for 45 minutes followed by discussion. Some presenters gave PowerPoint presentations, others spoke or read their papers. At least half of the attendees were women and a few were students.

The theme of the conference was “The Emotional Dimension of the Enlightenment: Responsibility for our Feelings,” which was spelled out by Ludwig Janus, who also functioned as moderator, a position in which he excelled. In his introduction he referenced the quote, “We would like to understand the wave on which we ride, but we are the wave,” from the art historian Jacob Burckhardt. Janus highlighted the importance of how our lives are shaped by the events of our time. He spoke of an Enlightenment that freed our thoughts and allowed for more creativity. This began with reflections on the literature of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. This literature explored our innermost feelings and in-depth psychology. However, emotion was still proven to influence societal events. Janus used “expressions in the war-making of the 20^th century and in its collective ideologies” as an example of such. It is his belief that by furthering infant research and prenatal psychology, there is a greater chance psychologists will be able to understand “pre-linguistic feelings on a personal level, to reflect on them and to be responsible for them.” The conference explored this emotional dimension of research. Janus sees it as “a basic approach of psychohistory; a reflection on the ways in which emotionality works in the psychohistorical process.”

The papers presented included:

On the first day, “The Emotional Dimension of the Enlightenment” by Ludwig Janus; “Biographic Comments to the

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Theme of the Conference” by Tilmann Moser; and “Creators and Creativity: The Influence of Trauma in Early Childhood on the Artist’s Work (Rilke, Dali, Kahlo)” by Ofra Lubetzky.

On the second day, “Authenticity of Emotions in Artistic Work” by Klaus Evertz; “The Intrauterine Relationship Matrix: The Indian Paradigm of Unconscious Organisational Designs of Societal Structures” by Horia Crisan; “Reflection on the Feelings of Infants in the Rig Veda” by Harald Strohm; “When Frau Räsong Fell into the Lake–Taking Responsibility for Emotions–Experiences from Childhood Therapy” by Antonia Stulz-Koller; “Characteristics of Feelings in Regression Therapy” by Marita Klippel-Heidekrüger; “Psychosomatic Medicine and Phenomenology” by Wolfram Schüffel; “Emotions in Philosophy–Attempts at a Compromise with the Body” by Bernhard Wegener; and “Dynamic of Public Feelings” by Winfried Kurth.

On the last day, “Peculiarities of Emotionality in Russia” by Juhani Ihanus; “America Then and Now. Alone in a Complex Society” by Peter Petschauer; and “How Does an Artistic Mindset Deal with the Problems of His (Her) Time” by Manfred Kalin.

In a subsequent e-mail, Ofra Lubetzky of Israel wrote about her interests and the paper she presented. Her focus was on “the history of the human being and how the relation between mother/father and child from the very early beginning influence the long life.” Previously, she did not view her work as psychohistory, and she now hopes to gain a better understanding of what psychohistory means.

I found the conference to be a most pleasant experience and somewhat different than the International Psychohistorical Association (IPA) conferences that I often attend in New York and attended this year. The atmosphere was rather relaxed, and it was very respectful and rewarding that almost everyone stayed for the entire conference. Regrettably, in New York City at the IPA, clinicians sometimes just come in to present their papers and leave. Visitors to Manhattan will often not stay the full time as they take advantage of the different cultural aspects of the city or carry on with their busy lives (as I did after two exhilarating days). It is always good to see that psychohistory is alive and well in Europe as well as in North America.

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