How the idea of ⁣⁣an IFPS journal came about

Abstract

In 1983 the Deutsche Psychoanalytische Gesellschaft (DPG) sent me as a delegate to the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies (IFPS). My trip to New York was associated with many expectations. As a young analyst at that time, I was particularly curious about meeting foreign colleagues. My expectation of meeting a venerable circle of analysts there was, however, harshly disappointed. I found myself disillusioned in a discouraged and haphazard committee that was desperately looking for prospects for the future. After a successful IFPS forum in Berlin some years before, the society was apparently exhausted and they were looking for someone willing to take the chair and lead the federation through the crisis. There was a lack of spirit that held the federation together, of money to finance future-oriented activities, and of personnel willing to commit to the idea of a liberal international psychoanalysis. Ann Turkel of the William Alanson White Society in New York finally agreed to take responsibility. She received the necessary support from the Executive Committee and from her society. Then we were looking for a brilliant idea for the renewal of the federation. In this situation, the foundation of an international psychoanalytic journal appeared to be an option for the future. It was created in the corridors in front of the meeting and lecture rooms and became a redeeming thought that especially inspired the younger ones among us. And so the International Forum of Psychoanalysis (IFP) was born in a longterm and sometimes arduous process. As far as I can remember, it was the Swedish colleagues from the Society for Holistic Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, above all Jan Stensson and Christer Sjödin, who took up the idea of an IFPS journal and persevered despite the many concerns and reservations that were associated with it. They found support from individuals such as Jochen Kemper from Rio de Janeiro and Arne Jemstedt from Stockholm, who helped drive the project forward. I joined in with the intention of using a journal to generate a stronger response to the IFPS’s idea of a liberal international psychoanalysis among the members of the German-speaking societies, among whom there were hardly any recognizable connections. By founding the Germanlanguage magazine Forum der Psychoanalyse, I also had editorial experience that I was able to bring to the project. However, it took years before the idea became reality and the first issue appeared. This is how the IFP came about, and now we are honoring its 30th anniversary with this issue. In retrospect, the journal’s start in the 1980s and 90s has paid off. The IFP has developed into an organ with a broad spectrum of topics from the various regions and continents and, with articles from all psychoanalytic directions, represents the whole wealth of ideas that are represented in the IFPS, its member societies, and beyond. It is a true reflection of the diversity in which international psychoanalysis presents itself today in theory, practice, and science. In a difficult scientific and political environment, the journal survived the divergent developments in the IFPS and counteracted them integratively. It survived the withdrawal of the Swedish and German societies from the IFPS and today forms an important milestone on which something like an IFPS identity can be established. Their existence and success in the canon of international journals shows that, in our professional field, societies with different histories, different interests, and a relatively nonbinding organization can exist and stick together. Today the “Forum” is part of our scientific and political heritage that we can be proud of. Ad multos annos, IFP!