About this event

This event is hybrid, participants are welcome to join in person or online. This event will be recorded and available for 1 week post event.

The conference will be held in a well ventilated room, with lunch provided, and regular tea & coffee breaks. 

The second of a series of four conferences on Contemporary Psychoanalytic Thinking. Each conference can be attended independently. 

This conference brings together a range of perspectives to think carefully about how psychoanalysis engages with experiences of abuse, including the tensions between trauma, accountability and meaning-making in clinical work. It offers space to reflect on how these dynamics are understood and worked with in practice. Together, the conference invites thoughtful discussion across professional, academic and lived experience perspectives.

This conference is open to all professionals working in physical, social, educational, forensic and mental health services, heads of services and academics and those with live experience. The aim is to have a good mix of the community in order to work and think together, and to find creative ways forward. If you have any queries about its relevant, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] for assistance.

Sessions

Daniel Taggart: Working with Groups of Survivors and Survivor Advocates Abused in Institutions - How Can Their Unique Contributions be Utilised? 

Stephen Blumenthal: You Wouldn’t Imprison a Hurricane... But It Might Be Possible to Change Its Course: Intervening in the Cycle of Violence

Dr Nozipho Sangweni and Sue Levy: Community Psychoanalysis on the Ground: Working with the Gender Based Violence in a South African Township

Phil Stokoe: Curiosity and Sexual Abuse: From the Perspective of Both the Victim and the Therapist

Joanna Rosenthall (Psychoanalyst, Couple Psychotherapist & Writer): Focused on Loss and Recovery

Participants are encouraged to read Joanna Rosenthall's 2025 novel: 'Cursing the Darkness'.

View full programme here

How can psychoanalysis help us examine what we really fear? When it comes to the area of abuse, especially child sexual abuse, its origins have a complicated past. However, there has been much development in thinking in relation to abuse, which we aim to draw on. Clinically, exploring the unthinkable and knowing about what is unimaginable is at the heart of a psychoanalytic approach. Time and time again, one can witness the possibility of recovery; this is evident for those who are survivors or who have worked with survivors or perpertrators of abuse. On the journey from harm to healing, it seems pertinent that some accountability is taken. Whilst this is a simple statement to make, the process is complex, as accountability involves the nature of the superego - is it harsh, critical, or benign? Accountability may be both an external and internal phenomenon. During this conference, we will explore the nature of this complexity. Some current approaches to working with those who have been abused and those who perpetrate abuse, and the relationship between the two, will be examined.

We are fortunate to have a number of leading and creative thinkers steering us through this complicated landscape. Speakers include Stephen Blumenthal, Maxine Dennis, Dr Nozipho Sangweni, Sue Levy, Phil Stokoe, Daniel Taggart and Joanna Rosenthall.

REFUND POLICY: Full refunds are offered for cancellations made before 14 days before the event date or first day of an event or series. For full event booking terms and conditions click here.

Concession tickets are available, for students, BPAS candidates and NHS trainees. Please email [email protected] 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.

Event prices