The Setting in Psychoanalysis
The first thing the Psychoanalyst asks of the analysand is his/her freest expression to the extend that this is possible. He/She asks him/her to express his/her Free Associations. After the issue was raised by Freud, it was taken for granted for a long time that this would not include concerns about the hours of the sessions, nor the analyst’s remuneration, nor the supposedly decent behavior of the analysand. These were givens. The totality of them was called the “Setting of Analysis”.
It did not take many decades before it was realized how precarious this position was. The patient’s unconscious would never miss the opportunity to question the above standards as well as many others in connection with the first. And so the “Setting of Psychoanalysis” had to be re-interpreted and included in the psychoanalytic process like everything else.
Today the “Setting” is no longer as stable as it was in the early years of Psychoanalytic Practice. Technology has brought more ‘realism’ which questions anything that is taken as a given. However, this has further enriched the hermeneutics for the benefit of the analysands.
Vassilis Maoutsos
Scientific Director
Speakers
| Name (Alphabetical) | Professional Status |
|---|---|
| Baroni Antonia | Psychotherapist Member of the Institute of Classical Psychoanalysis |
| Voulgari Maria Athena | Psychoanalyst, Regular and Founding Member of the I.K.P. |
| Gyparaki Eftychia | Psychoanalyst, Lecturer, Member of the Institute of Classical Psychoanalysis |
| Dervishi Helena | Psychoanalyst, Presiding Member of the I.K.P. |
| Dimopoulos Vasilis | Psychoanalyst, Lecturer, Member of the Hellenic Psychoanalytic Society |
| Kevopoulos Stavros | Psychotherapist, Member of the I.K.P. |
| Maoutsos Vasilios | Psychoanalyst Lecturer Member of the I.K.P. Member of the British Psychoanalytical Society, the British Psychotherapeutic Association, the British Psychoanalytical Council and the International Psychoanalytical Association |
| Economou Katerina | Psychotherapist Member of the Institute of Classical Psychoanalysis |
| Oikonomopoulou Lygeri | Psychotherapist Member of the Institute of Classical Psychoanalysis |
| Salion-Papageorgiou Angeliki | Psychotherapist Member of the Institute of Classical Psychoanalysis |
| Stavrianou-Chalida Xanthi | Psychoanalyst Member of the Institute of Classical Psychoanalysis |
| Stefanoudakis Manolis | Psychoanalyst, Group Psychoanalyst, Member of the Hellenic Society of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy |
| Tsilivigou Maria | Regular Member of the IKPS and Psychoanalyst Trainer |
| Tsolis Konstantinos | Psychoanalyst, Teaching Member of the Institute of Classical Psychoanalysis |
| Hatzi Katerina | Psychotherapist, Trainee Member of the I.K.P. |
| Chroni Dionysia | Psychotherapist Member of the Institute of Classical Psychoanalysis |
Conference Program
SATURDAY 9/5/2026
| HOURS | SPEECHES | SPEAKERS/COORDINATORS |
| Discussion moderator | I. Theodoridis | |
| 9:40-10:00 | Attendance | |
| 10:00-10:15 | Greeting-Welcome | Vasilios Maoutsos |
| 10:15-10:45 | The context as the third person (the “third presence”) | Dervishi Helena |
| 15΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 11:05-11:25 | The changes in the Setting: One is psychotherapy and another is psychoanalysis | Chroni Dionysia |
| 10΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 11:40-12:10 | Analytical process and analytical Setting | Dimopoulos Vasilis |
| 15΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 12:30-12:50 | The hidden message of the context in psychoanalysis | Katerina Hatzi |
| 10΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 13:00-14:30 | 1.5 hour break | |
| Discussion moderator | A. Siozios | |
| 14:30-15:00 | The psychoanalytic Setting as a symbol multiplier | Tsilivigou Maria |
| 15΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 15:20-15:50 | Artificial Reality/ Context/ Reality | Maoutsos Vasilios |
| 15΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 16:10-16:40 | Unconscious/Context/ Consciousness vs Artificial Reality/Context/Reality. Is there a difference between them? Clinical Presentation | Gyparaki Eftychia |
| 15΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 17:00-17:20 | Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy: Characteristics of the Setting | Voulgari Maria Athena |
| 10′ | Questions – Discussion |
SUNDAY 10/5/2026
| HOURS | SPEECHES | SPEAKERS/COORDINATORS |
| Discussion moderator | Rosa Stathopoulou | |
| 10:00-10:15 | Brief review of the previous day | Vasilios Maoutsos |
| 10:15-10:45 | The Setting in psychoanalysis is the matrix of healthy development of the analysis – Clinical presentation | Stavrianou Halida Xanthi |
| 15΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 11:05 -11:25 | Is the patient’s request to his therapist for “realism” a characteristic of the unconscious or of organized consciousness? | Salion Papageorgiou Angeliki |
| 10΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 11:40 -12:00 | The inescapably human side of the Setting and its modern variations | Oikonomopoulou Lygeri |
| 10΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 12:15- 12:35 | The Setting in cognitive therapy impersonating psychoanalysis | Antonia Baroni |
| 10΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 12:45-13:45 | 1 hour break | |
| Discussion moderator | Chrysanthi Makri | |
| 13:45-14:05 | The differentiation of the psychoanalytic Setting in a compulsive patient | Kevopoulos Stavros |
| 10΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 14:20-14:50 | Narcissistic disorders and the necessity of the psychoanalytic Setting – Clinical Presentation | Tsolis Konstantinos |
| 15΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 15:10- 15:30 | The experiential fantasy of the context in analysis during episodes of depersonalization | Economou Katerina |
| 10΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| 5 minute break | ||
| 15:45-16:05 | In search of meaning in psychoanalytic practice. Does context or desire produce meaning? | Stefanoudakis Manolis |
| 10΄ | Questions – Discussion | |
| Conclusions – Closing of the Conference | K. Tsolis – V. Maoutsos |