Migration, Trauma, and the Analyst’s Position – A Challenge to Neutrality
At the upcoming EPF Congress in Oslo, a compelling special event hosted by the Subcommittee on Migrants and Refugees will bring together leading psychoanalytic thinkers to examine one of the most pressing issues of our time: the intersection of migration, trauma, and the analyst’s role.
📅 Date: Thursday, 26 March 2026
🕑 Time: 14:00 – 17:00
📍 Location: Room Hyde Park A
Chaired by Vladimir Jovic (Belgrade Psychoanalytic Society), this session convenes internationally recognised clinicians and scholars to explore how contemporary political violence and displacement are reshaping psychoanalytic practice.
A Timely Psychoanalytic Inquiry
Mass migration driven by war, persecution, and political instability is not only a humanitarian crisis—it is also a profound psychological and cultural phenomenon. For psychoanalysts, this raises complex questions:
- Can neutrality be sustained in the face of real-world violence?
- How does political catastrophe enter the analytic space?
- What is the ethical and clinical responsibility of the analyst today?
This session addresses these challenges through clinical material, theoretical reflection, and socio-political analysis.
Featured Presentations
Martha Bragin – Beyond Neutrality: Creating the Analytic Third (New York)
Martha Bragin examines how exposure to violence shapes the internal worlds of individuals displaced by conflict. Her work explores the limits of neutrality and introduces the concept of the analytic third—a shared psychological space where unspoken and “forbidden” emotions can be acknowledged.
Through clinical case material, she demonstrates how psychoanalysis can foster recognition of shared humanity, even as broader political forces—particularly far-right ideologies—exploit division between migrants and host communities.
Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber – Threatened Caring Culture: On the Medea Myth (Germany)
Drawing on the Medea myth, Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber investigates how unconscious fantasies and early trauma are projected onto migrants and refugees.
Her presentation highlights:
- The erosion of the human “caring system”
- The rise of contempt toward vulnerable populations
- How populist and extremist ideologies are fuelled by these dynamics
Using findings from the MODE study, she shows how attempts to bridge social divides through care may paradoxically provoke narcissistic rage and destructive fantasies.
Nasim Ghaffari – The Psychoanalyst’s Position in Times of Political Catastrophe (Switzerland)
Nasim Ghaffari offers a deeply personal and clinical perspective as an Iranian psychoanalyst working in Switzerland during ongoing political violence in Iran.
Her reflections consider:
- How state violence and war enter the analytic field
- The impact of political catastrophe on both patient and analyst
- The critical role of countertransference in understanding these dynamics
In this context, neutrality is reframed—not as detachment, but as the analyst’s effort to preserve a space for thinking and symbolisation amid external disruption.
Why This Event Matters
This session speaks directly to clinicians working in an increasingly unstable global environment. It challenges traditional psychoanalytic assumptions and invites a rethinking of neutrality, ethics, and engagement.
Participants will gain:
- Insight into clinical work with migrants and refugees
- A deeper understanding of trauma shaped by political violence
- New perspectives on the analyst’s position in times of crisis
Join the Conversation in Oslo
This special event is a vital contribution to the broader dialogue at the EPF Congress 2026, addressing how psychoanalysis can remain relevant—and responsive—in a world marked by displacement and conflict.
For psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, and mental health professionals, it offers a rare opportunity to engage with leading thinkers at the forefront of clinical and theoretical innovation.