Talks On Psychoanalysis

What if God had created Eve not at Adam’s service, but acknowledging his human condition of helplessness and absolute dependence on another human being? What may be the influence of this Western myth of the creation of civilization upon our subjectivity, especially regarding gender differences? These and other interesting questions are posed by Susana Muszkat in this paper about male violence and its naturalization in society. According to her, gender-biased behaviors associated with masculinity (and femininity) are sustained by fixed cultural codes and repeated unconsciously across generations, in the absence of interventions aimed at deconstructing them. Is it God’s fault, or is it the way we read the myth? Susana Muszkat is a psychologist and psychoanalyst, a full member and faculty member of the Brazilian Psychoanalytical Society of São Paulo. She sees adults, couples, and families in private practice and in institutions. Susana has a master’s degree in Social Psychology, which led her to studies on masculinity, violence, and gender, and to coordinating talk groups for men convicted of domestic violence for 15 years, where she had the opportunity to reflect on the “social construction of masculinity.” She noted that men get trapped in static roles and cultural demands—as they are always expected to be strong, have courage, and engage in risky behaviors—differently from what is expected of women. According to her, this ends up affecting their mental health, generating violence as a product of having to maintain this Ideal Ego. In an attempt to get rid of feelings of insecurity, they react with violence. Susana coined the term “violence from identity distress” for this emotional condition.   Susana is a former IPSO President and has served on several IPA committees. She currently chairs the Institutional Issues Committee and was recently awarded first prize by the Community and the World Committee on Health and Psychoanalysis at the 2025 Lisbon Congress for her joint paper on the SOS Brazil project. She has published articles, book chapters, and books in several languages on this and other subjects. This episode is presented in English and Portuguese. portuguese You can download a copy of the paper here. This podcast series is produced by the International Psychoanalytical Association as part of the activities of the IPA Outreach Subcommittee.    Chair: Gaetano Pellegrini  Podcast Coordinator: Florencia Biotti This episode produced by: Sylvia Pupo Editing and Post-Production: Massimiliano Guerrieri   Cover Image: Titian, Venus and Adonis, 1554. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Public domain.

Jennifer Davids, a London-based psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist who works with children, adolescents and adults. She links drawing and line metaphors to thinking and describes translating sensory-rich images into language. She explores why she writes, the anxieties of gestation and publication, ethical tensions around consent, and the creative, reparative role of clinical writing.

Ema Ponce de León, psychoanalyst and researcher focused on the body in clinical work, offers an embodied metapsychology view. She explores limits of speech and the non‑verbal, bodily resonance in the clinic, tonic dialogue and tonic‑emotional mirroring, trauma encoded somatically, and working from body to symbolization with severely affected patients.

"Psychic Change and Enactment: Some Reflections" is the work that Ariel Liberman offers us, to examine psychic change from a relational perspective, placing enactment as a central moment in the analytic process. Far from understanding it as a mere technical error, he presents it as a shared repetition (by patient and analyst) that, through insight and the analyst's disidentification with the embodied object, can become a transformative experience. In dialogue with the logic of the “deferred action”, how are these scenes resignified “après-coup”? How can the unthought in the analytic field open new possibilities for symbolization and change?   Ariel Liberman holds a PhD in Psychology and is a member of the Madrid Psychoanalytic Association with training functions. He is currently the editor of the APM's Journal of Psychoanalysis and participates in the committee that organizes the biennial Spanish Language Meetings held by the APM. Over the years, he has held various positions of responsibility within the association, notably as Scientific Secretary of the APM Board. He is the author of several articles and has published two books: “An Introduction to the Work of D.W. Winnicott” (2011) and “Conversations on Psychoanalysis with Stephen A. Mitchell” (2022). He works in private practice in Madrid, Spain. This episode is presented in English and Spanish. Spanish    You can download a copy of the paper here. This podcast series is produced by the International Psychoanalytical Association as part of the activities of the IPA Outreach Subcommittee.    Chair: Gaetano Pellegrini.  Podcast Coordinator: Florencia Biotti. Editing and Post-Production: Massimiliano Guerrieri.   Cover Image: Photo by Ana M. Martín Solar, "Reflections", Laredo, Cantabria, Spain.

Jhuma Basak, a training and supervising analyst known for work on culture and gender, reflects on transience through psychoanalytic and cross-cultural lenses. She links impermanence to mourning, creativity, and ego renewal. She discusses myths like Ajase, Bhatiali songs as cultural repair, collective traumas in Japan and India, and the feminine as fluid relationality.

    "What happens when we accept that impermanence is not a loss, but the very essence of life? In psychoanalysis, transience is often associated with mourning and the capacity to renew oneself. Inspired by Freud's 1916 essay and Japanese culture, Dr. Osamu Kitayama explores how impermanence can be a source of psychic vitality and creativity. Through myths like Izanaki-Izanami and traditional Japanese art, Kitayama invites us to reflect on the relationship between transience, mourning, and resilience. How can we find beauty in the ephemeral? Establishing transience as a key concept in Japanese psychoanalysis, Kitayama's work bridges Eastern and Western perspectives. This article is part of the book “Psychoanalytic Explorations into the Primal Relationship in Japan and India” (Routledge, 2025), a collaboration between Osamu Kitayama and Jhuma Basak exploring primal relationships in Japan and India through a cross-cultural psychoanalytic lens."     Osamu Kitayama is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Japan Psychoanalytic Society, Professor Emeritus at Kyushu University and President of Hakuoh University. He served as President of the Japan Psychoanalytic Society from 2016-2019 and continues to work with patients in private practice. He has authored numerous articles on culturally oriented psychoanalysis and books such as Prohibition of Don’t Look (2011)”. You can download a copy of the paper here. This podcast series is produced by the International Psychoanalytical Association as part of the activities of the IPA Outreach Subcommittee.    Chair: Gaetano Pellegrini.  Podcast Coordinator: Florencia Biotti. Editing and Post-Production: Massimiliano Guerrieri.   To stay informed about the latest podcast releases, please subscribe today.   Cover Image: Jin Yamamoto, Ehon Kojiki – Yomigaeri – Izanagi to Izanami (Picture Book Kojiki: Resurrection – Izanagi and Izanami), 2015. Story by Michiko Ryo. Tokyo: Kokushokankoukai, Inc.    

Christine Anzieu-Premmereur, a child and adult psychiatrist-psychoanalyst, explores how compulsive bodily repetition in childhood connects to trauma, addiction, and self-harm. She contrasts playful mastery with rigid rituals, revisits Freud and Winnicott on repetition and play, and argues for early analytic intervention and creative, transitional spaces to transform repetition into symbolic, playful activity.

Mariano Horenstein, an Argentine psychoanalyst and author, delves into contemporary psychoanalytic listening to sexuality. He explores how the history of hysteria and psychosis has shaped analytic language and challenges traditional assumptions. Horenstein argues for the trans clinic as a pivotal paradigm, emphasizing the importance of inclusive language in psychoanalysis. He discusses how these shifts not only return sexuality to the forefront but also demand flexibility in listening styles, ultimately celebrating the enigmatic nature of sexual identity.

In the wake of profound cultural change, the traditional image of the father has been destabilized, prompting renewed psychoanalytic reflection. No longer confined to authority alone, the paternal figure is now expected to embody both care and limit. What psychic space does the father occupy in the life of the child? In this episode, Heribert Blass explores fatherhood through a contemporary psychoanalytic lens. Drawing on clinical experience, interdisciplinary research, and cultural observation, he outlines a model of committed paternity that integrates emotional presence with symbolic function. From early play to Oedipal conflict, the father's task is to protect, to differentiate, and to support the child's path toward autonomy. Rather than fading, he emerges as a complex figure situated at the intersection of intimacy, separation, and symbolic function—and essential to the child's inner world. Heribert Blass, medical doctor, is a psychoanalyst for adults, children, and adolescents; a training and supervising analyst of the German Psychoanalytic Association and the IPA; also a specialist in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy, and psychiatry, working in private practice in Düsseldorf, Germany. He is the president-elect of the IPA and served as president of the European Psychoanalytic Federation from 2020 to 2024. His publications cover a wide range of topics, including male identity and sexuality, the image of the father, supervision, generativity both in clinical work and within psychoanalytic institutions, boundary violations, the relationship between internal and external reality, psychoanalysis and society (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic), as well as time and the experience of time. French German Italian   Portoguese Spanish         You can download a copy of the paper here   This Podcast Series, published by the International Psychoanalytical Association, is part of the activities of the IPA Communication Committee and is produced by the IPA Podcast Editorial Team. Co-Editors: Gaetano Pellegrini and Nicolle Zapien. Editing and Post-Production: Massimiliano Guerrieri.   To stay informed about the latest podcast releases, please sign up today.

Harriet Wolfe, a prominent psychoanalyst and president of the International Psychoanalytical Association, shares her insights on toxic polarization and its psychological implications. She introduces the International Dialogue Initiative, a diverse group aiming to address historical traumas through deep listening and storytelling. Wolfe emphasizes the importance of constructive dialogue to counteract dehumanization and promote understanding. She also discusses the role of collective trauma in shaping identities, especially in post-war contexts, and highlights how compassion can bridge societal divides.