Letter From a Concerned Member

When I read the 3 statements from IGA, EGATIN and GASI in response to the invasion of Ukraine, I noticed that only the GASI statement extended thoughts to our Russian colleagues. If this had worried me already, then to hear that there might be a call to dismiss Russian institutes and colleagues, especially those who do not denounce their allegiance to the Russian president, this is even more worrying to me.

What has become of Group Analysis? What has become of those radical ideas of de Mare and Foulkes who believed in the possibility of communication and dialogue between those who think differently?

It seems that we are not allowed to think, to listen to different perspectives, and even not to know what this is all about.

Concerning what is happening in Ukraine, I have heard many different perspectives and stories, and it seems to me that they are all worth listening to.

It is worrying that we seem to have arrived at a position where only one opinion counts.

Do we have to decide whether we are feeling for our Ukrainian colleagues who must be terrified at the prospect of their houses being destroyed by Russian forces, or feeling for the Russian minority who even at this moment seem to experience attacks by Ukrainian Nazi forces?

It seems to me that we are kind of swept away by a sentimentality that is worth reflecting about. I see the Ukrainian flag everywhere. Solidarity is overwhelming.

But who knows the flag of Congo, or Yemen, or Palestine? And I am sure there are many other places …

And if we believe that we as institutions should sanction those who live in countries who are involved in wrongdoing, then many other colleagues would be implicated. For example, the USA, UK, Israel, India.

Nowadays most people start their talks with the statement, “I am against the Russian invasion of Ukraine”. Even if this seems important, why were we not required to do so, nor required by our psychotherapy institutions to publicly declare that we were against the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan (to name the more obvious) and Syria, and so on?

What should we do about our training in India? Should we make sure only to take on students who are declaring that they are standing against Modi? And what if this very declaration would put them and their families in danger?

Angelika Golz angelika@golz.org.uk