Jungians have never been shy of difficult subjects. They sit with death and dying, follow dreams into the stranger corners of the psyche, take the shadow seriously, and wrestle with grief, evil, madness and the numinous, which many professions prefer to leave alone. Yet even a tradition this willing to venture into the dark has places where it hesitates to look. The Austrian Society for Analytical Psychology (ÖGAP) wants to find out where those places are. Its annual theme for 2027 is “Taboo in Psychotherapy”, and it is inviting talks from psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and colleagues in related fields.
The theme belongs to ÖGAP’s “Jungian perspective” series. Jung would have called these subjects shadow themes, and the society wants to look first at the therapist’s own shadow, rather than, as usual, at the shadows of patients. Which topics does analytical psychology leave out? Where should we look more closely and reflect more critically? What triggers our defences, and what do we do when a taboo surfaces in practice?
The organisers offer some starting points, while stressing that they are open to other ideas. These include analytical psychology and esotericism, disgust, fear and aggression as a psychotherapist, growing old as a psychotherapist, C.G. Jung and the Second World War, and what happens when psychotherapists have psychological problems of their own. Others are antipathy in analysis, and what happens when therapy fails or even causes harm. Contributions can be papers, case vignettes or theoretical reflections. Newcomers are especially welcome, as well as experienced speakers.
Talks take place online and last 75 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of discussion. There are six possible dates in 2027: Tuesday 30 March, Tuesday 27 April, Tuesday 25 May, Tuesday 29 June, Tuesday 19 October and Tuesday 30 November. These are suggestions and not yet confirmed. To offer a presentation, contact ÖGAP through events-cgjung.at. The society hopes for many proposals on what it calls a currently underrepresented subject area.