This year’s Symposium is titled
The Social Unconscious and Fatherhood: Relational Psychoanalysis and Group Psychotherapy

The Symposium aims to illuminate the multidimensional aspects of fatherhood — psychic, social, institutional, and cultural — through the lens of relational psychoanalytic and group psychotherapeutic thinking, with a direct link to the concept of the “group turn” in relational psychoanalysis (Charalambides, 2024). The social unconscious, as described by Earl Hopper and further developed in post-institutional and intergenerational readings, constitutes a reservoir of collective memory and trauma that structures the symbolic presence and absence of the paternal figure.

We are delighted to present the panels and honored to host the following speakers of the online segment of the Symposium (February 5–6). These discussions bring together distinguished scholars and clinicians to explore the intersections of fatherhood, the social unconscious, and the transformative potential of group and relational approaches.