Working group on psychoanalytic pedagogy

The Working Group on Psychoanalytic Pedagogy (APP) is an association based in Vienna that is dedicated to the application of psychoanalytic pedagogy , especially in the form of psychoanalytic-pedagogical educational counseling .

History of origin

The Working Group on Psychoanalytic Pedagogy was founded on September 26, 1996 in Vienna as the founding of the Sigmund Freud Society, the Vienna Working Group for Psychoanalysis, and the Alfred Adler Institute of the Austrian Association for Individual Psychology . Its aim is to spread and develop psychoanalytic pedagogy in research, theory and practice. Helmuth Figdor has been chairman of the association and Wilfried Datler as deputy chairman since it was founded .

The APP is dedicated in detail

the application of psychoanalytic knowledge in different educational areas in research, theory and practice;
the continuation and expansion of psychoanalytical-pedagogical educational counseling;
training to become a psychoanalytical-pedagogical educational advisor;
the development of further training offers for various professional groups who work with children;
the implementation of lectures and advanced training events for parents;
promoting communication and cooperation with other psychoanalytical and educational institutions or individuals at home and abroad.

The focus of the activities lies in the effort to generate psychoanalytically guided impulses for the change and further development of pedagogical perspectives, content and methods in everyday family life, in kindergarten, in school and in home education, in work with people with disabilities, in parenting work - and family advice centers and other educational institutions, in dealing with youth welfare offices, youth and family judges with adolescents and their families, etc. to put on. Members of the APP also teach at various universities in German-speaking countries.

activities

Psychoanalytical educational counseling

Psychoanalytical educational counseling is a practical field of applied psychoanalysis, therefore a procedure that does not make any therapeutic claim (in the psychoanalytical sense) with regard to those receiving advice - parents, educators, teachers. Based on a psychoanalytical understanding of intra- and interpersonal mental processes of parents / educators and children, psychoanalytical-pedagogical educational counselors try to give adults orientations for dealing with or structuring relationships with children, which are "educational" insofar as they take priority orientate the development interests of the child (e.g. in the sense of Anna Freud , Erik Eriksons , DW Winnicotts ). The Viennese concept of psychoanalytical-pedagogical educational counseling developed by H. Figdor is characterized by a specific methodical approach as to how these orientations must be brought to the parents / educators so that they can also be accepted and practiced by them. Because although from a psychoanalytical point of view it can be assumed that a large part of educational "bad attitudes" or development-relevant relationship problems are supported by preconscious and unconscious motives (ambivalence, transference, narcissistic projections, sexual and aggressive desires, fears ...), including psychoanalytic educational counselors deals with the unconscious impulses of his clients, their approach differs fundamentally from that of the psychoanalytic treatment. The work areas of the psychoanalytical-pedagogical educational counselors are in private practice, in educational institutions (kindergartens, homes ...), family counseling centers, in further education and training, as mobile educational advisors in rural areas and the like. at the

Training course for "psychoanalytical-pedagogical educational advisor (APP)"

The idea of the three-year course is, on the one hand, to meet a social need for help, orientation and support from parents and professional educators with an offer of qualified specialists and, on the other hand, to offer relevant pre-trained students a practice-oriented postgraduate training. Furthermore, the training to become a psychoanalytical-pedagogical educational advisor should create a space in which psychoanalysis can prove itself in practice in its pedagogical competence and this competence can benefit as many parents and educators as possible. The training was recognized as a university course. The award of the academic title Master of Arts (MA) is associated with the completion .

Conference for educators

2006: ADD / ADHD - A Myth? A challenge? A symposium.
2007: The rediscovery of the joy of learning. A symposium for educators about possibilities despite adverse circumstances. Learning - between authority and lack of discipline About the pleasurable design of social and cognitive learning processes in kindergarten and school.
2008: Talking to Children. What should and can I address as an educator or teacher? Why, when and where And above all: how? A symposium for educators about dealing with the inner emotional world of children as a support for educational work - without being a psychotherapist.
2009: Where the wild things live. Everyone is talking about violence and aggression from children and young people. They attack young people, their peers, but also adults, frighten, threaten, persecute or injure. This symposium for educators is about understanding the dynamics of violence and finding ways to deal with violence in schools, kindergartens and other educational institutions.

Visiting accompaniment after separation or divorce and visiting café

After the separation of their parents, many children and young people have no or only irregular contact with the “divorced” parent. Sometimes it is because the custodial parent is concerned about the well-being or safety of the child during the visiting contacts or is afraid of influencing the child that could put additional stress on the child; or that there is not (yet) sufficient trust in the reliability of the other parent or that the child expresses resistance to visiting contacts. In these cases visiting escort offers a protected framework in which the child can have contact with the separated parent; in which, through the support of visiting companions, a careful (re) rapprochement between child and parent can take place and in which parents have their own advisors at their disposal, with whom they can deposit their fears and worries and find solutions. Since 2008, the offer has been supplemented by the “Triangel” café in Vienna's 16th district, run by APP employees.

Child support

The project “ Child Assistance ” (see also Child Assistance Act ) ran between 2006 and 2008 in four Austrian federal states. In Vienna, the APP was the sponsor of the project and accompanied children from 46 families with the aim of minimizing their burden in divorce, visiting rights and custody proceedings.

Evaluation study on the Child Law Amendment Act (KindRÄG)

In this study, the effects of custody of both parents after a divorce in terms of child welfare were scientifically investigated. The APP carried out the parent-child study and wrote the final report for the evaluation study (cf. Barth-Richtarz; Figdor 2008).

Basic and advanced training for court experts

in trusteeship court proceedings (in cooperation with the research unit Psychoanalytical Pedagogy of the University of Vienna)
as a curative educational expert according to the Residence Act (in cooperation with the special and curative education working group of the Institute for Educational Science at the University of Vienna and the Federal Ministry of Justice)

swell

J. Barth-Richtarz, H. Figdor: What are the benefits of joint custody? Manz, Vienna 2008.

H. Figdor: Psychoanalytical-pedagogical educational counseling. The renaissance of a classic idea. In: Sigmund Freud House Bulletin. 19/2/13, 1995, pp. 21-87. (reissued: APP series volume 2/1998)

H. Figdor (Ed.): "Because we cannot shape the children according to our senses ..." (JW von Goethe). Festschrift for the 10th anniversary of the Working Group on Psychoanalytic Pedagogy (APP). Empirie Verlag, Vienna 2008.