Some interesting themes, observations and questions came out of the past Scientific Meeting:
These points emerged more clearly during the Covid pandemic but many of them were problems already present in our society. Society was already changing and it is these changes that are of interest to EATGA/AEATG in relation to our transcultural work.
The pandemic has increased mental health problems and has revealed that existing social and institutional problems have deepened i.e inequality, ethnic, poverty, colour, religious differences.
There has been a breakdown and fragmentation of societal containers. The external social and cultural points of reference seem to be less evident i.e religion, morality, family, music etc. Anxieties are not handled by society in the appropriate way. There is more uncertainty, ambivalence and vagueness. There is a lack of leadership as well as a wish to belong to groups and a fear of so doing.
Since Covid we are all living in the same situation – we are all in the same boat. For some, aspects our lives are similar to those of our patients.
We were already making changes in the organisation of our settings before the pandemic. Our ways of working are more familiar and perhaps less distant. Online relations are limited because of the inability to read body language. How does this affect our understanding of the way we practise, our theoretical understanding and analytic stance ?
Old cultural symbols reappear in the use of new technologies so that there is a continuity with the past but technology is also having a wider impact in the creation of meta social/cultural and psychic changes?( R. Kaes)
There are tensions in belonging to any wider group and cultural differences between East and West remain when traditional patterns are present.
MARLENE SPERO ALESSANDRA MANZONI
