Dr. Guilherme Ferreira

Mário David & Isaura Manso Neto

27 de Março de 1937 – 30 de Janeiro de 2020

Dr. Guilherme Ferreira passed away on the 30th January 2020 in his residence due to medical complications resulting from a prolonged illness.

He was one of the most prestigious and respected Group Analysts of the first generation of our Portuguese Groupanalytic Society (SPGPAG), being one of its training members. Dr. Guilherme Ferreira was an exemplary reference, as well as a person with an enormous affability, an unparalleled modesty and revealing always bonhomie and optimism towards life. He was a superior intelligence with an encyclopedic knowledge supported by a prodigious memory! He was always in good humour and with fine grace. For us, Portuguese Group Analysts, he was a living memory of our Group Analytic Society and also of both the Foulkesian and International Group Analytic Movements! We have lost a great man and a dear colleague!

Curriculum Vitae (Summary)

Group Analysis

His group-analytic training included a personal group-analysis, with a frequency of three sessions a week during seven years, with Prof. Eduardo Luís Cortesão, the pioneer of Group-Analysis in Portugal, who was also a member of  GAS (London); a supervision, followed during six years centered in three different groups with three different Supervisers: Prof. E. L. Cortesão  (before I was in analysis with him), Dr. Fernando Medina and Dr. João Azevedo e Silva, all them Didactic Members of the Portuguese Group-Analytic Association. The frequency of a four year course, with a periodicity of a three hours session each week, (in which psychoanalytic, groupanalytic sociological, anthropological and group-dynamic subjects were studied) completed the training (1963-1970).

In 1972, he become a full member of the Portuguese Group Analytic Society and, since 1975, one of its Didactic and Supervisor member. Between 1983 and 1996 he was President of the Portuguese Group Analytic Society.

Full member of the Group-Analytic Society (London) and later on Group-Analytic Society International (GASi), since 1970.

Member of the International Association of the Group-Psychotherapy (IAGP) since 1975 and a member of its Board of Directors (1977-1986) and (1995-2003).

Founder Member of the Portuguese Association of Interrelational Psychoanalysis (PsiRelacional)

Medical Career

Head-Chief /Senior Psychiatrist of the Portuguese NHS, the highest post within medicine in Portugal.

Director (1987 – 1998) and Clinical Director (1988-1997) of Miguel Bombarda Hospital and head of its training program (1983-2002).

Member of the American Psychiatric Association

Teaching

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Lisbon Medicine Faculty (1966 – 1972) and in the Lisbon Faculty of Medical Sciences (1972-1975).

Invited Professor at the Superior Institute for Applied Psychology (ISPA) where he was responsible for the following courses: a) “Group-Analysis” (1978 – 2006); b) “Community Mental Health” (1978 – 2006); c) Currently, he was responsible for the chairs of “Psychoanalytic theories in Group” and “Analytical models of evolution and intervention in group” in the “Integrated Master of Psychology”.

Invited Professor at the Lisbon Modern University, till 2008; he was responsible, in this University for the chairs of “Psychological intervention in groups” and “Social Anthropology, in the licensed of “Curative Psycho-Pedagogy”

Associations to which he belonged

  1. Portuguese Society of Groupanalysis and Analytic Group Psychotherapy (SPGPAG).
  2. Group-Analytic Society (London) and Group-Analytic Society International (GASI).
  3. Founder Member of the Portuguese Association of Interrelation Psychoanalysis (PsiRelacional) and its President of the General Assembly.
  4. Associação Portuguesa de Psicoterapia Psicanalítica (APPSI).
  5. International Association for Group Psychotherapy (IAGP).
  6. American Psychiatric Association (APA).
  7. World Association for Dynamic Psychiatry (London): Member of its Governance Board and its representative in Portugal.
  8. World Association for Social Psychiatry: (Fellow) – President from January 1988 till November 1992; currently, member of its Board of Trustees, of which he was chairman from 1992 to 1996.
  9. Mediterranean Sociopsychiatric Association (Fellow) – Vice-President (1980-95); President elect (1995-2000); currently it’s President (since 2000).
  10. Sociedade Portuguesa de Psiquiatria Social (Portuguese Association for Social Psychiatry) – President (1971-1983); Honorary life President (since 1983-).
  11. World Psychiatric Association (Individual member).
  12. Associação Portuguesa de Psiquiatria (Portuguese Association of Psychiatry) – President of the General Assembly (1991-96).
  13. Sociedade Portuguesa de Psiquiatria e Saúde Mental (Portuguese Association of Psychiatry and Mental Health) – Member its Direction between 1972 and 1975.
  14. Liga Portuguesa de Higiene Mental (Portuguese Union for Mental Health).
  15. Sociedade Portuguesa de Saúde Mental (Portuguese Association for Mental Health).
  16. Sociedade Portuguesa de Reabilitação Psicossocial (Portuguese Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (Branch of the World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation) – President of the Auditor’s Committee (1994-97 and 2006-2009) and of the General Assembly (2000-2006).
  17. Sociedade Portuguesa de Epidemiologia (Portuguese Society of Epidemiology).
  18. Sociedade Portuguesa de Epidemiologia Psiquiátrica (Portuguese Society of Epidemiological Psychiatry) – President of Auditor’s Committee (1988-91).
  19. New York Academy of Sciences.
  20. London diplomatic Academy.
  21. He was also Member of the Stranding Committee of Presidents of International Non Governmental Organizations concerned with Mental Health Issues (1990- 1993) and Temporary Adviser of World Health Organization.

Conferences, Congresses and Meetings 

He participated in more than a hundred Congresses and Meetings, in the majority of which he presented papers and chaired panels, seminars, symposia or free papers sessions.

He was the President or Chairman of the following Congresses: The First National Congress of Group-Analysis (Portugal) // The IInd National Congress of Group-Analysis and IInd Luso-Brasilian Congress of Group-Analysis and Analytical Group Psychotherapy // The VIIth World Congress of Social Psychiatry that was held in Lisbon (1978) // The Asiatic extension of the VIIIth World Congress for Social Psychiatry (that was held in Macao) (1980) // The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Portuguese Psychiatric Association meetings.

He was (with N. Afonso Ribeiro) member of the Organizing Committee of the 1st European Symposium in Group-Analysis (1970), held in Portugal – Estoril. In 2014, he was the President of the Scientific Committee of the 16th. Symposium in Group Analysis in Portugal, Lisbon.

He was the Chairman or Member of the Scientific or International Advisory Committees of about fifteen other Congresses.

Awards

He received several national  and international awards among which the gold medal for distinguished  services, bestowed  upon him by the Portuguese Government and the title of Doctor in Sciences (Honorary)  attributed by the University Giuseppe  Scicluna, La Valetta, Malta.

Books and papers

He was co-author of the book “Social Psychiatry and World Accords”, published in 1992 and edited by Jules and C. Masserman and is (or was) member of the Editorial Board of several reviews,  national and international.

He presented more than 300 papers in Conferences, Congresses and Meetings and published around 58 articles in several Portuguese and International Journals, 34 of which were about Group-Analytic themes. 

Mário David & Isaura Manso Neto
Lisbon, 22nd February, 2020