From Oct. 6 to 8, the European Association of Integrative Psychotherapy (EAIP) is hosting its most important event of the year in Tbilisi, Georgia: the 11th European Congress of Integrative Psychotherapy. Hosts this year are our own Bruno Van den Bosch (who is also president of the EAIP) and Marine Begashvili, head of the International Academy of Mental Health and Integrative Psychotherapy.

Bruno Van den Bosch: “It will be a hybrid congress. Those who choose to attend live will also be able to experience the beauty of Georgia and meet colleagues in person. The main themes of social responsibility, connection and diversity play an essential role in our current world. As humans, we face incredible challenges in dealing with profound ecological changes, the threat of war and pandemics. We live in a world where people are fleeing violence or financial inequality – a world of fear, loneliness and social exploitation. In this, we as psychotherapists have an essential task. How can we deal with a social, political, environmental, cultural and economic context that affects our psychotherapeutic work? How can we recognize the impact of this other dimension on the client-therapist relationship, and how can we develop ideas about how to deal with it and how can we integrate it into our therapeutic practice? With these questions and many more, we anticipate a three-day congress in which we will search for answers, introduce new approaches, facilitate panels covering similar topics from different perspectives, offer experiential workshops to put theory directly into practice, etc. Our congress will open the dialogue between different approaches, in which integration plays an important key role. This will be a congress with a focus on relational approaches, which see connection in diversity as one of their core values. The fact that we live in a changing world, while it brings uncertainty, also offers hope and creative possibilities. I am convinced that it will be a fruitful conference and I look forward to meeting you there.”

The theme is “Human rights, connections and diversities in the field of Psychotherapy,” and with that in mind, the EAIP welcomes some special keynote speakers:

• Heward WILKINSON: Social Responsibility and the Knowledge Base of Psychotherapy; Priority and Integration
  Dr Heward Wilkinson (MSc Psychotherapy, Leeds, 1992; D. Psychotherapy, Middlesex, 2011; UKCP Reg. Integrative Psychotherapist from 1994; Fellow of UKCP and EAIP and Honorary Member, EAP) has a literary, theological, and philosophical background before becoming a psychiatric nurse, nurse teacher, and then psychotherapist full time. He has also been Chair of the Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy College of UKCP for a total of 8 years and is Vice President of EAIP.
  He believes that the foundations of psychotherapy lie more in history and philosophy than in science.

• Emmy VAN DEURZEN: Personal and Social Freedom and Responsibility
  Emmy Van Deurzen is founder director of the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling and the Existential Academy in London. She is a Philosopher, counselling psychologist, existential therapist and international author and speaker, also Author of the books – Rising from Existential Crisis: Life Beyond Calamity with PCCS books, Paradox and Passion (Wiley, 2nd edition, 2015) and Psychotherapy and the Quest for Happiness (Sage, 2009).

• Oana Maria POPESCU: The Strategic Approach: A Unifying Perspective in Integrative Psychotherapy
  Oana Maria Popescu is a trainer and supervisor in integrative psychotherapy, integrative child psychotherapy and expressive psychotherapy, holder of the European certificate for psychotherapy and specialist in hypnotherapy. She is the co-chair of the membership committee and training standards officer for the European Association of Integrative Psychotherapy – EAIP, secretary of the European Interdisciplinary Association for the Therapy of Children and Young People – EIATSCYP, a direct member of the European Association of Psychotherapy – EAP, of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration – SEPI, , the International Society of Political Psychology – ISPP, the American Psychological Association -APA and the European Association of Hypno-Psychotherapy- EAHP.  Oana Maria Popescu is the founding president of the Association of Integrative Research, Counselling and Psychotherapy – ACCPI. She is a member of the Editorial Board for the European Journal of Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy. She also published numerous books, among which Integrative Strategic Psychotherapy. Volumes 1 & 2., Common Factors in Psychotherapy. The integrative strategic perspective”, etc.

• Maša ŽVELC, PhD: Emotional and physiological regulation in psychotherapy supervision
  Maša Žvelc, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Primorska and a director of the Institute for integrative psychotherapy and counselling, Ljubljana. At the Institute, she has a psychotherapy and supervision practice and leads courses in integrative psychotherapy and supervision. She is the co-author of two books, published by Routledge: Mindfulness and compassion in integrative supervision (2023), and Integrative psychotherapy: A mindfulness- and compassion-oriented approach (2021).

Please find more information on the website of the EAIP and the website of the Mental Academy.