Introduction

Across the world, we are witnessing a disquieting resurgence of totalitarian thinking,
authoritarian rule, and extremist ideology. Old certainties about the irreversibility of
democratic progress are being tested by new and old forms of domination, propaganda,
polarization, and the erosion of dissent. History reminds us that totalitarian regimes rarely
remain contained within their own borders — they have repeatedly been the architects of war,
turning internal domination into external aggression. Movements once thought consigned to
history are re-emerging in new guises, reminding us that the totalitarian impulse is not simply
a historical episode but a persistent potential within individuals, groups, and societies.

Few places carry this history as vividly as the Czech Republic, and few cities as vividly as
Prague. Marked in the twentieth century by Nazi occupation, and subsequently by decades of
communist rule following the 1948 coup, Prague witnessed both the crushing of the 1968
reform movement and, finally, the peaceful collapse of totalitarian rule in the Velvet
Revolution of 1989. This layered experience of subjugation, resistance, and liberation offers a
uniquely resonant backdrop for reflecting on the totalitarian object: how it takes root from
earliest childhood in all of us, how it becomes internalized, under what conditions it awakens
within individuals, groups, and societies, how it is transmitted across generations, and how it
may be recognized and resisted.

Group analysis, from its origins, has been deeply concerned with the relationship between the
individual and the social matrix, between inner and outer worlds, between the personal
unconscious and the social unconscious in which we are all embedded. The totalitarian
object—as an internal structure, a relational dynamic, and a social phenomenon—inevitably
finds its way into our groups, our institutions, and our training settings, sometimes hidden,
sometimes disturbingly explicit.

At the EGATIN Study Days 2027 in Prague, we will explore the concept of the totalitarian
object and its many manifestations: in the individual psyche, in group life, in societies past
and present, and in the structures of group analytic training itself. Through lectures,
discussion groups, and large groups, we will ask how group analysis can help us understand
the origins and mechanisms of totalitarian thinking, how it may covertly shape our trainings
and institutions, and how our discipline can respond, both theoretically and practically, to the
challenges posed by the current rise of totalitarianism and extremism worldwide.
We are looking forward to meeting you in Prague!

If you are applying for a bursary, please register for the study days at the early bird
fee but do not transfer any money until the allocation of bursaries has been finalised
in early February.

We are looking forward to meeting you in Prague! 

EGATIN TUZLA 2026 - 'How the post truth discourse in society may be reflected in our groups and group analytic training'

Introduction

We live in challenging times, times of proliferation of fake news, alternative facts, conspiracy theories, alternative realities and other narratives that blur the line between truth and falsehood, truth and lies, change certain established forms of cognition or, in a word, in a time described by the quite popular term post-truth. The rise of post-truth discourse coincides with the growth of general dissatisfaction and fear triggered by various and rapid natural and social changes, shaken security and broken trust. It seems as if facts have ceased to be important and that truth is no longer a reason for believing or disbelieving in something.

Truth and falsehood, facts and fantasies, narratives and reality, meanings and explanations, individual and social, subjective and intersubjective, inner and outer world, individual unconscious, social and collective unconscious are at the basis of group-analytic events from encounter to encounter. Our groups, group-analytic setting, that microcosm immersed in social context creates a climate for questioning both our inner and outer world and searching for truths and answers in building or rebuilding trust and security in ourselves and the world around us.

Precisely, at the EGATIN Study Days 2026 in Tuzla, in the context of current social changes, and in the continuation of the previous EGATIN study days, we will deal with the post-truth discourse and its possible reflections on group analysis, our groups and group analytic training, and to what extent and how group analysis can be a response to the challenges of the post-truth era.

We are looking forward to meeting you in Tuzla!

EGATIN Study Days

"Working with polarization in our groups & in group-analytic training" 

&
EGATIN Annual General Meeting

In Berlin, Germany, April 25-27, 2025

More information and registration: https://egatin.net/study-days/next-study-days

Below you can find the practical information about the Study Days & AGM 2023 in Budapest: 

TOPIC OF THE STUDY DAYS

In 2005, the EGATIN Study Days in Rome dealt with the theme “Didactic Matrix”.

Under the pressure of social and scientific changes, group analysis faced new challenges and crossed uncharged territories and the topic is more relevant than ever.

In 2022, again in Rome, it will be possible to explore how “differences” question the didactic matrix and research in group analysis, the effectiveness of therapy and training in the postmodern world. 

The EGATIN Committee is pleased to announce confirmation of the 2021 Study Days, including EGATIN's AGM, will be held online from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th April.

The Study Days this year is a two day event which will include a first day of clinical presentations and reflections and the second day exploring the application of Group Analysis to non-clinical settings including organisations, citizen groups, and other social groups and activities.

You will notice from the program that there will be two large groups open to all participants and one large group that is exclusively for students of EGATIN's organisational members.
The student large group is a recent innovation driven by the students themselves and we hope and expect this group to become a regular feature of future study days. 

There will be a Zoom conference which includes AGM, large group, policy meeting and one presentation, to which, as usual, observers will also be welcome.

Trainees from different training institutions of EGATIN´s network are also invited, this in order to create a trainees platform for an international exchange of Group analytic knowledge, experience and ideas.

The video conference is free of charge.

All members of the Member Training Institutions can register for this Zoom conference, but as the numbers are limited, delegates and trainees will be given priority.