Message
from Congress Chair

  More Ego training!! The 28th annual congress will be held with the belief that we must not let that passion and classical psychodynamic value be lost today, but rather seriously need to regain them. S. Freud found the ego functions in the core of mental (psychic structure) and created psychoanalysis as a therapy for development and maturity. Ego is the mental functions as the entity that manages the world (universe) called self. If the world of self is compared to a company, ego is the top exucutive. Without the healthy and tough executive, the crisis is rising as everyone will lose their minds and collapse, just like the regional and corporate organizations would extremely easily collapse in the cruel global environment of the survival of the fittest.
  Recently, the spectacular news about professional athletes and other high performers are often shown. In the shades of these, the misery of many children involved in wars, conflicts and catastrophes is conspicuous. In educational area, the diagnosis of developmental disabilities is so prevalent that a lot of parents and children are stuck without the adequate therapeutic responses. The problems of teachers’ misconducts, bullying, and school refusal have not stopped. In the working environment, organizational dysfunction is also widespread due to employee’s leave of absence and changing jobs caused by depression and adjustment disorders. In response to these serious problems, the current human rights ideology and the harassment prevention measures have not been successful, but have instead created a suffocated group dynamics that weaken people’s abilities. Above all, education and human resource development in all families and all areas of society are completely dysfunctional. Rather, prominent astrophysicist, S. Hawking’s major concern that the human world will be surpassed by AI with an intelligence explosion is becoming a reality indeed.
  In the world of high performers who live by the charm of brilliance by others, there is a growing interest in “mental coaching,” but their performance failure due to yips or mental or physical illnesses can increase the suffering of those who are unnoticed behind the prominent public stage, and even create enough danger to close off their life plan. Hence, “Dynamic Psychotherapy” is needed in all parts of world today to help people maximize their abilities in these situations, to train the ego to survive in life, to kindle the energy within themselves and to develop and mature. However, the number of professionals who can use dynamic psychotherapy is very small. While tough training over a long period of time is necessary for the development of powerful psychotherapists, in Japan, there is a big problem lying ahead that cannot be looked at the training.
  On January, 1, 2024, Noto peninsula earthquake of maximum intensity 7 occurred. Many people were sacrificed by this earthquake and tsunami. We would like to reiterate our deepest sympathies and condolences. As one of its missions, this association has continued to hold annual congresses in the mega-disaster areas of Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture and Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and IADP members have taken countermeasure leadership in various disaster areas to provide preventive psychoeducation and dynamic psychotherapy responses for traumas and PTSD in catastrophic disasters. And, we have also conducted psychotherapy from crisis intervention for medical personnel responding to the Covid-19 pandemic that struck the world. Hidden from the physical and psychological damage caused by these mega-disasters, we are still witnessing a crisis in which issues of the human mind are falling through the net of response.
  Therefor, we will hold our annual congress in the form of a training camp at a well-established hotel in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, which is still facing the nuclear power plant issue and the long road of reconstruction. In keeping with the congress theme, the program is designed to help participants strengthen their own and each other’s ego functions. This is because a tough ego is necessary for professionals to be able to practice dynamic psychotherapy in immediate response to serious mental health problems in modern society. However, the training of the ego is not accomplished in a day. It requires daily training, just as athletes and craftspeople hone themselves day by day. The young secretariat members of this association and the board members, who are still trying hard not to outdone by the younger members, are all working hard to strengthen their own egos in order to hold a productive congress. The ego grows by taking challenges, going through, falling down, getting hurt, and getting up. We hope that all participating members will be aware of and refine their own egos and participate in this congress.
  I recently watched the documentary on world famous conductor, Seiji Ozawa, who passed away. He emphasized may times that “harmony” is created only through the toughness of the “individual”. He found the image of world peace in an orchestra of strong individuals and harmony, and he appealed for the necessity of such an orchestra earnestly, risking his life and never forgetting his sense of humor. He said he had been “experimenting” to see if he, as a Manchurian-born Japanese, could take root in the Nagano and make Western music his own. I felt deep empathy. Without ego-training, there can be no encounter with the rich self emphasized by the East, no overcoming of “selfishness,” and no exercise of collective power. With “more ego-training” as the slogan, we are looking forward to working together in Koriyama in psychotherapeutic pursuit of ego training and peace of mind!