The Forum - Psychoanalysts in Dialogue | Autumn 2021

The Forum - Psychoanalysts in Dialogue is a series of Institute of Psychoanalysis talks exploring the impact of having 'A Well Gardened Mind' and 'Why Our Planet Is In Crisis' and the ongoing effects this has on our mental health.

These lectures will be of interest to clinicians working in psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, nursing and other areas of mental health.

• Lectures are on Friday from 6:30pm - 8:00pm on Zoom.
• Each lecture lasts about an hour followed by time for discussion and contributions from the audience.

Please note: These dialogues will be held on Zoom and will also be available for the following 48 hours to all registered participants. This is to allow for international attendees to enjoy the event at a more appropriate time in their time zone. After this time, the recording will no longer be available.

Registration for each session will close an hour before the live event begins. 

**To book any individual event, please click the relevant section in the programme outlined below. The individual dialogues are priced at £25 each, the full series can be booked at £40**

12th November | Dialogue - A Well Gardened Mind - 6:30pm - 8:00pm   

The garden may be seen as a refuge from real life, but gardening can offer a deep connection with nature, a mental as well physical activity. Getting our hands in the earth connects us with the cycle of life in nature, where destruction and decay are followed by regrowth and renewal, thus answering to deep existential needs. Tending to plants can foster the gardening of inner space, allowing the working through of feelings and problems, and as research has shown, may alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The psychiatrist, psychoanalytic psychotherapist and passionate gardener Sue Stuart Smith has delved deeply into these issues in her bestselling book, “The Well Gardened Mind”. Uncannily, though five years in the making, this book was published on the cusp of the first Covid lockdown and the author’s ideas help us to understand why so many of us (re-)turned to our gardens for solace and space at this unprecedented time. She will be in dialogue with the psychoanalyst Eileen McGinley, a keen gardener herself. They will explore our connections with nature and the link between body and mind in such activities, as well as the therapeutic use of gardening. The dialogue will be chaired by the psychoanalyst Susan Godsil.

Previous Event

15th October | Dialogue - Why Is Our Planet In Crisis - 6:30pm - 8:00pm 

Our planetary life support systems are in deep crisis, most prominently with the climate crisis, whose devastating impact is growing year on year. Deeper reasons why it has come this far, despite the dangers being publically recognised for half a century, are manifold: psychological, sociological, economic, political.

Two important new books explore these reasons: “Psychological Roots of the Climate Crisis: Neoliberal Exceptionalism and the Culture of Uncare” by Sally Weintrobe (Bloomsbury) and “How Women Can Save the Planet” by Anne Karpf (Hurst).

As Sally Weintrobe argues, a “culture of uncare” has developed, driven by a widespread Exceptionalism that overrides caring, whether for others or the planet. Anne Karpf points at an important gender divide, in that worldwide women have done much less to cause the crisis yet are suffering most from it. Addressing the climate crisis needs to touch on fundamental questions of how we live together and it cannot be achieved without our capacity to care more firmly in the driving seat.

Sally Weintrobe, psychoanalyst and author who has written and talked on climate change and its roots, and Anne Karpf, sociologist, journalist and author, will be in dialogue about their books and about the psychological and sociological reasons for climate change and what needs to change on a deeper level. The dialogue will be chaired by the psychoanalyst Trudy McGuinness.

REFUND POLICY: Tickets are fully refundable until 14 days before the event, after which time no refunds will be issued

Concession tickets are available, for students, BPAS candidates and NHS trainees. Please email outreach@iopa.org.uk if you are unsure if you qualify for a concession ticket. 

Views and opinions expressed by speakers are their own and do not represent the views or opinions of the Institute, event organisers or other speakers. We expect delegates to respect the confidentiality of clinical material discussed in our events. The content must not be recorded, conveyed or disseminated in any format and participants must not share access to the event with non-registered participants.