derzeit beobachte ich ja noch die dynamiken von katzen, wenn diese in einer wohnung aufeinander treffen. ich muss sagen, sie machen fortschritte. bis zum ende des experimentes (in einigen stunden) werden sie sich vielleicht bis auf wenige zentimenter begegnet sein.

ab montag werde ich dann beobachter und selbst bestandteil einer vergleichbaren untersuchung bei menschen werden. ich nehme an einer “experiental conference” zu gruppendynamiken teil. eine woche werden sich “deutsche, juden, israelis, palestinänser und andere” in zypern treffen und gemeinsam diskutieren. für mich klingt das programm (s.u.) nach einem spannenden experiment. man muss sich vor augen halten, dass in gemeinden die unterschiedlichsten prozesse am laufen sind und, dass es für “professionals” wichtig ist, diese zu erkennen und ggf. zu entschärfen, bzw. zu lenken. ein teil unserer lehreinheiten in der supervision verwenden wir genau darauf und diese konferenz scheint dabei für mich eine gute ergänzung zu sein.

in wie weit der titel der ganzen veranstaltung nur platzhalter oder programm ist, kann ich euch nicht sagen und muss einfach erfahren werden. ich werde mein notebook mitnehmen und, soweit es die zeit zuläßt, davon berichten.

mehr zur konferenz findet ihr nachfolgend. shabbat shalom und rosh chodesch tov

aus dem konferenz-programm:

Repeating, Reflecting, Moving On:
Germans, Jews, Israelis, Palestinians & Others Today
An Experiential Conference in the “Nazareth” Series

Introduction
This conference has a long and distinguished history. The original idea was proposed by a group of brave and visionary psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and group relations consultants in the mid 1980s who felt that a great opportunity for learning from experience about man’s inhumanity to man – in particular the instance of the Holocaust – was being avoided and this topic needed to be addressed with some urgency before personal, group and national defensive processes became so set in stone that learning was no longer possible. They accordingly set up a series of conferences, the first two held in Israel, the third in Germany and the next two in Cyprus. The present conference is the sixth in the series. Whereas the first conferences focussed specifically on German/Jewish/Israeli relationships, the fourth and fifth conferences opened up the theme to a wider membership, for want of a better term called Others. This the latest conference retains its roots in the events of the Holocaust and the learning that both staff and members have had from this work, but extends its work to specific groups, in this case Palestinians, as well as leaving the door open to membership of other groups that have similarly been caught up in processes of ill treatment and genocide. Cyprus, the chosen setting, as the interface of many social migrations and conflicts, seems an appropriate venue in which work on these issues might take place. Further details of the history of the series of conferences can be found on our website at http://www.p-cca.org.

The Aim of the Conference
The aim of the conference is to provide a setting, away from the pressures of daily activities, in which participants can experience and begin to interpret some of the unconscious and not-quite-conscious factors in the relatedness of the various groupings present at the conference. Living and working together for six days will make it possible to examine previous and ongoing psychic and social processes from different perspectives, to become aware of attitudes, feelings, reactions and fantasies, to reconsider one’s identity as a member of a group, to express and explore existing ideas as well as new ones, to apply and test these within the conference itself, and subsequently to take them home for future application in professional and other roles.

Method
A central feature of group relations conferences is the experiential study of group, inter-group and institutional processes; the explicit task is to study processes in the here and now. The structure and agenda of ordinary work organisations and of committees are removed, and without these familiar organizational defences underlying – perhaps unconscious – dynamics are exposed and hence more easily observable. The relation of the consultant to the group is somewhat analogous to that between analyst/therapist and analysand/patient, but, in this case, the “analysand” is the group or larger system, and the focus is on the dynamics of the group as a whole in relation to the task, not on the individuals within it. The exercise is, of course, an educational rather than a therapeutic one. However, there is no teaching of the conventional kind, and what the individual participant learns is not, and cannot be, prescribed. Rather, this depends on how each individual uses his/her own authority and internal resources to participate, to reflect upon their experience, and to contribute to the ongoing the process.

Membership
The conference is intended for those who wish to work on enmities, old or new, that are deeply embedded and hence may seem insurmountable. It is an opportunity for all who suffer on account of such dynamics, or are troubled by them, to work, through their own experience, towards understanding – rather than surrendering to – the psychological, social and group forces involved.