Historical Review Heiner Lachenmeier

History, Legends and Anectodes

Short Historical Review of the Swiss Association for Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

Good afternoon

I should tell you in short about the history of our association for Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. I can understand for what reasons a therapy should be short. But why the hell should a history be short? Would it be in order to prevent - by lack of time - something embarrassing from surfacing? Of course I would never misuse the celebration of our birthday to disclose awkward stories. Though I have to admit it is hard to resist to this tempting thought...

Falling in Love and Pregnacy

Anyways. The history of our association begins with - an attempted robbery. Now that’s the way I was told how it had taken place:
In the early eighties two friends, Dr. Jossi Auslaender and Dr. Andreas Benz, travelled to New York. Dr. Benz wanted to make his friend acquainted with the interesting work of a certain Prof. Habib Davanloo, who presented his work at a congress in New York.

As usual – and as so often without good reason – Jossi doubted the judgment of his friend, but he looked forward to visit New York.

As it happened Dr. Auslaender was so much fascinated by the presentation, that in one of the breaks he tried to shoplift some of Dr. Davanloo’s papers. And of course he was cought redhanded by him. „End of the story“ - one would assume, knowing Davanloo only superficially. But knowing Auslaender, his charming sharp wits, and the generosity of Davanloo, it is not surprising that the two men ended up in a deep conversation, which was the first step to the founding of our association as well as the first step of bringing Dr. Davanloo to Switzerland in order to train us.

Si non e vero, e ben trovato.

Birth and Baby Time

Auslaender‘s energetic activity did not constrain itself to nick papers. In fact he was well known for approaching problems head on. Speedily he wanted to invite Davanloo to the clinic, where he himself was head-doctor at the time, the clinic St. Pirminsberg in Pfäfers. And he began to think about organizing a training program with Dr. Davanloo in Switzerland. For both he needed an organizational structure, an association, which should be officially registered in the Commercial Registry. This was necessary, because Davanloo was himself interested in acquiring a first officially registered association for his ISTDP in Europe, which could become a member of the „International Institute of Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (incorporated in New York). So both sides had their legitimate interests that included
scientific and other issues.

  
The side-effect of this was, that somehow the term „Schweiz“ or „schweizerisch“ had to be included in our association‘s name. As these terms have different legal implications, there was an extensive correspondence with the federal office. At some time they even proposed that we should be called „Schweizerische Gesellschaft für dynamische Kurzpsychotherapie der Schweiz“ (Brief vom Eidgenössischen Amt für das Handelsregister, Fürspr. Achermann, vom 24. Juli 1985).

It took Dr. Auslaender approximately half a year until our association could be founded. October 25, 1984 three persons were present in order to found it, an at the same time to constitute the first board:

• Dr. Joseph Auslaender, from Israel, 1933, President
• Dr. Jana Benz, from Zurich, 1941, board member
• Dr. Rudolf Bleuler, from Zollikon, 1950, board member

Only 11 days later the first „active-member“ of our association was admitted. It was Dr. Andreas Benz, the friend who had taken Auslaender to New York, and husband of Dr. Jana Benz.

With respect to the foundation history of the GIK this is about as much as there is to say. But concerning the development of the young GIK it is true, that there is more.

- During the first two years Auslaender organized not less than three audiovisual courses
with Dr. Davanloo in Pfäfers. It was quite an amassed exposition, that mobilized the Lachenmeier 2014 / History, Legends and Anecdotes of 30 years GIK unconscious of many of us. And I am sure, that this intensive start helped our group a lot to prevent from falling apart later on, in more difficult years.

- And in these early years from 1984 until 1986 the cooperation set off between Jossi Auslaender and Jean Michel Gaillard from Geneva in order to organize a core training program. It was good fortune that Jean Michel Gaillard joined in. Later on he proved to be the decisive man.

Before we come to that I have to tell you (or remind you of) one of the classic anecdotes of the GIK. In a sense it served as a landmark for many of us, when own questions, doubts, insecurities, anxieties or resistances threatened one of us from time to time to loose one’s path:

The first audiovisual course that Davanloo gave in Switzerland (1985) did not take place in the clinic Pfäfers itself. In order to emphasize its significance one choose the historical site of Bad Pfäfers, which is located in a very deep, very long and very narrow ravine. This was a success in many ways. Besides Davanloo also David Malan was present and at the time he still cited his famous sentence: „Freud discovered the unconscious, Davanloo discovered how to work with it.“ He did indeed. For three days he showed tapes. For me it was like for most of us the first time that I saw his work. And I remember very well how all kind of feelings surged up in me, triggering anxiety, and all kind of resistances. I was hooked anyways, could hardly concentrate and at the same time could not otherwise than concentrate.

Apparently the same thing happened to a group of psychoanalysts from Zurich, though on a much higher scale. It is told, that quite a few of them ended up in a panic state, further enhanced by the very deep, very long and very narrow ravine. They were reported to have fled out of the ravine, back to the save haven of Zurich. In their Journal they published a devastating critic, which was countered in a very calm and elegant way by Dr. Andreas Benz.

During the following years we occasionally laughed about that anecdote. Yes, sometimes we were arrogant. Later on most of us came to understand, that there is an optimal way for mobilizing unresolved feelings, but that there exists the risk of an „overkill-mobilization“, which of course can be very destructive, especially if confronting an audience and not only a single person.

Childhood

In the early childhood of the GIK, in 1987, we experienced the loss of one of our fathers. Dr. Auslaender found himself professionally and personally in a very difficult situation. He simply disappeared, informing about his sudden return to his homeland Israel only in hindsight.

How ever we dealt with that traumatic loss, still we decided to go on with the project of our association in order to establish training with Dr. Davanloo. Several of us contacted him in different ways. I remember how a group of us discussed with him during a reception in the town hall at Alicante Spain, that took place at the occasion of an Immersion Course.

But in the end we mainly owe it to Jean Michel Gaillard’s knowledgeable, charming, distinguished and upright personality, that the European Core Training Program could materialize. Without him, who became our new president in 1987, I suspect we would not be here today, looking back on 30 years of ISTDP in Switzerland.

Finally, 4 years and 3 days after the founding of the GIK, the first block of the core training with Dr. Davanloo started. At the beginning the program was designed for three years, and according to Dr.Gaillard’s plan each participant should receive an official certificate, issued
by the GIK, and signed by Dr. Davanloo too (see correspondence J.-M.G. with J.A.). Lachenmeier 2014 / History, Legends and Anecdotes of 30 years GIK
 
Davanloo had reservations concerning certificates. We complied with these reservations, even later on when we built up our own training facilities in Switzerland. But looking back we have to acknowledge without envy the wisdom of Jean Michel Gaillard‘s plead for a structured program and official certification. Today, almost 30 years later - that have passed very fast - we face a new law in Switzerland, the „Psychotherapieberufe-Gesetz“. Lacking a structured training program including certification the GIK has no chance at all, that it’s training program can gain accreditation by the state. This constitutes a serious problem for the immersion of ISTDP in Switzerland, but at least it offers a chance to learn out of history.

The European Core Training Program lasted finally for more than a dozen years. I think that all of us had totally underestimated, what enormous amount of commitment, dedication, will, time, money, endurance, courage, frustration-tolerance and so forth it called for. Speaking for myself, it was worth it. Both professionally and personally it was decisive for my life. Still that should not keep us from assessing, how a training program could be improved. But that’s another story.

Now, I rather give some more reference to the early childhood of the GIK. You know, the supervision blocks usually took place in Geneva. And there we not only learned about ISTDP, but we were introduced by Jean-Michel Gaillard into the mastery of cooking in Geneva. I vaguely remember one restaurant, where we ate a menu of numerous courses, each accompanied by a special wine. Due to that wine you will understand that my memory is only vague, and I can’t recall more to tell.

More interesting is, that in the first blocks of video-supervision Michel Fournier was the only one of us whose work gained recognition by Davanloo. Michel was very calm in his interventions, soft-spoken, and there were no obvious spectacular phases or eruptions in the therapeutic process. I remember frequent discussions amongst us Swiss-Germans, doubting that he applied any pressure at all, and wondering why Davanloo approved this. It took quite some time until the rest of us – at least that is true for me - realized, that Michel was the only one who understood from the very beginning the difference between applying pressure and pushing. Please, Michel, accept my deep respect and admiration for this, even if it comes late.

Teenage Years

In the early nineties we felt ready to go public with the acquired knowledge, knowing that we were far from mastering ISTDP. Dr. Davanloo strongly supported these activities and nominated the Swiss members of the Core Training as „faculty members of the Swiss Institute for ISTDP“. In alphabetic order:

• Dr. med. Therese Augsburger
• Dr. med. Rudolf Bleuler
• Dr. med. Michel Fournier
• PD Dr. med. Jean-Michel Gaillard Dr. med. Christian Iten
• Dr. phil. Alfred Jordi
• Dr. med. Christine Konzelmann
• Dr. med. Heiner Lachenmeier
• lic. phil. Anne-Marie Zutter

I am still proud that I was designated to act as the first director of training of the Swiss Institute. I think I did the job reasonably well, but looking back I can recognize many things, that I could have done better or should have done different.

1992 we conducted the first of meanwhile 19 Introductory Courses in the german speaking part of Switzerland (17 participants). They were followed by Theory Courses. Supervision courses took place on a regional base. Parallel to this we toured numerous clinics in Switzerland in order to present ISTDP. During the first 4 years of our teaching activities we totaled 16 publications, and we organized 4 Immersion Courses with Davanloo.
In the French speaking part of Switzerland the teaching had a different format. Jean-Michel Gaillard, Michel Fournier and Anne-Marie Zutter formed a stable group that presented, taught and supervised in their network in Geneva, including - thanks to Gaillard – in the frame of the University (a level we could not offer in Zurich).

Due to the commitment of Christine Konzelmann we achieved official recognition for our medical branch by being admitted as affiliated society of the Swiss Association for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.
And for our psychological branch Alfred Jordi negotiated with the Swiss Psychological Federation that our training was accepted at least as part of a psychoanalytical training.

These years and the years that followed were a very intensive and active period. There was an atmosphere of departure, future-oriented, “everything” seemed possible. We even crossed the border of Switzerland and presented ISTDP at the Freud Institute in Frankfurt or at the University of Nürnberg.

But at the same time we were still struggling in learning ISTDP ourselves. Decisive improvements only took place once most of us started their own therapy with Dr. Davanloo. And other decisive improvements came, when at last we switched to life supervision with him (retrospectively something, that should have been done much earlier on). Increasingly it became possible to take our own trainees into treatment.

Crisis in Adolescence

Towards the late nineties there was a certain stagnation in the activities of the GIK. Finally, between the end of 97 and the beginning of 99 we sled into what one could call the adolescent crisis of the GIK – or at least a crisis of the GIK in the German speaking part of Switzerland. The benevolent view to that is, that every self-respecting therapy institute has to go through such a crisis, in order to grow and in order to become adult. And equally benevolently I assume, that every grown-up – a grown up institute as well - deserves, that discretion is granted to passed adolescent slip-ups. Let us just state, that the crisis was a heavy challenge. Friendships broke, trust was lost, and the GIK nearly collapsed. We received important support from Geneva. Jean-Michel Gaillard, who was already seriously ill at that time, committed himself too. And in the end we made it. In the majority of cases we could find back to mutual respect. Thus we forced good luck, and we can be grateful, that we had Rudolf Bleuler, who as new president proved capable to lead us with his levelheaded character further out of the swamp.

Not long afterwards, on the 21st of February 1999, Jean-Michel Gaillard deceased, leaving a huge, sad gap.

Debonding in Early Adulthood and Reapproach in Midlife

After a crisis things take an altered pace. The highflying plans were gone, we were back on the ground. Like young adults we had to adapt to our realistic potential, fighting through daily life. And we had to do it – as well like young adults – more self-responding. The contact to Dr. Davanloo became less intense for some time.

And a third time like young adults: being faced with the reality of our own horizon provided the chance to develop. There was more free space. Unspent and new members of the GIK stepped forward as well, for expl. Florian Wschiansky, Doris Dällenbach-Farner, Lothar Matter, Lilo Kunz, Evelyne Steinmez, Sabine Madarasz, Christina Laube and others, taking off a lot of the work, keeping the shop running.
Some were choosing partly diverse paths than the “old school”. In an unobtrusive manner a constructive debate slowly started to evolve. Different fields were covered, not only ISTDP in a narrower sense.

For example:

• Sebastian Pfaundler covered questions of quality management and of teaching modalities. He was the one who developed and implemented Life Monitoring Supervision, where the supervisor has direct contact to the trainee during the supervised session. Initial reservations quickly evaporated. The stress for the trainees proved to be much less, the progress of learning became much more efficient.
• Monika Reller concentrated on fragile ego structure, starting on the bases of ISTDP, but gradually developing an impressive, own specific way, how to work with such patients. And yes, meanwhile she distanced herself from the GIK, which I find regrettable but fine, as we are not the Catholic Church.
• Paul Troendle set off to compile all notes from courses in ISTDP, and concentrate them into a systematic handbook of ISTDP. Including theory, metapsychology, diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and procedures. Providing numerous practical examples. And in addition putting all that into a scientific context with different psychotherapeutic methods. To my knowledge his book was the first of it’s kind, maybe the only one.
• I myself started to use the knowledge from ISTDP for my research in ADHD. It enabled me for expl. to differentiate, if confusable phenomenon were in a respective individual case a psychodynamic defense mechanism or a direct or indirect mechanism of neurobiological ADHD-condition (and thus independent of unresolved unconscious issues). Many findings and developments of the last dozen years would not have been possible without the training by Davanloo.
• Several of us involved themselves in leading positions in the professional politics, further anchoring ISTDP not only scientifically, but also in the human community of the professional field. But as a side-effect of politics we also succeeded in presenting Davanloo’s ISTDP at a Congress of the European Psychiatric Association.
• Christian Iten achieved our socialization and involvement with the further education of assistant doctors in Psychiatry. Meanwhile for many years we give successful courses there in ISTDP.
• Pierre-Alain Emmenegger, who later in 2010 became our current president (and an admirably good one, one with “father-qualities”), established contact with many professionals in the field of ISTDP on an international level. His share in improving the contact to Dr. Davanloo cannot be overestimated.

“Diverse paths, diversification”, I spell it out explicitely again. We showed and still show diversification. Though not in the sense of a defense mechanism in order to avoid something. And definitely not in the sense of a superego-pathology, in order to destroy. But in the sense of using what we have learned to the best of our possibilities. In other words this is just facing “La Condition Humaine”, which means, that we are neither omnipotent nor infallible.

Gratitude

The focus of the GIK however is ISTDP according to Davanloo. We will go on exercising, working, observing and exploring on the bases of his findings. We have to go on, but with respect and with gratitude for all that he gave to us. We should go on being well aware, that going on does not mean being renegade. Healthy children have to go their own way, they can nevertheless remain loyal and loving to their parents. And – closing the circle of my speech – I come back to another father of the GIK, Dr. Auslaender.
 In 1982, short before he met Dr. Davanloo, he published a book together with his wife with the title “We all are children” (Joseph Auslaender, Jutta Radel: Kinder sind wir alle; Orell Füssli 1982). That is something all of us - including the “fathers” and “mothers” - experience in our work with ISTDP time and again, no matter how old we are, and no matter if we are therapists or patients.

Thank you.

Lachenmeier 2014 / History, Legends and Anecdotes of 30 years GIK

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