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Hotels and Pensions Granada

Report Granada Academy 2002

Report Granada Academy 2003

Report Granada Academy 2008

Hotels and Pensions in Granada (near conference site)

Granada 2002 report

The third Summer School in Granada was held successfully in May 2002 gathering 50 colleagues from several countries in Europe and abroad, gathering different approaches in group psychotherapy and group work (group analysis, psychodrama, group dynamics ) and gathering different working languages (English, Spanish, Italian and German). The venue of the Summer school is a Moresque palace in the historic district of Granada called Albayzin. The format of the conference is restricted to the maximum of 50 participants in order to guarantee personal encounter and communication during the week. It compromises large groups (each day a different style of conduction), small approach centred groups with one language and one so-called international group with different languages and different approaches: psychodrama and group analysis. Every day starts with a lecture on a specific topic related to the over all intercultural theme of the whole week. In the first edition the topic addressed the relationship between religion and groups (different psychotherapeutic schools resemble different religions with different cultures and similar types of conflicts inside and between them, Granada as the model of a peaceful coexistence between different religions and different cultures), the second edition addressed to topic of multicultural society/groups and identity.

In the recent edition which explored the relationship between dream, myth and reality in multicultural groups also the Austrian Association of group psychotherapy (ÖAGG) together with the AEP (Spanish Association of Psychodrama) and COIRAG (Confederazione Italiana per la Ricerca sui Gruppi) besides the DAGG has taken an active role in the realization of the program. Next year the Summer School will focus on hopes, anxieties and visions of the Intercultural Future which attunes well with the topic of the Istanbul Conference. It will take place from the 2d to the 6th of June 2003.

Dr. Jörg Burmeister

Granada 2003 report

The fourth Summer School in Granada was held successfully in June 2003 gathering 50 colleagues from several countries in Europe and abroad, gathering different approaches in group psychotherapy and group work (group analysis, psychodrama, group dynamics ) and gathering different working languages (English, Spanish, Italian and German). In the recent year the academy focused on hopes, anxieties and visions of the Intercultural Future which attunes well with the topic of the Istanbul Conference. It has taken place from the 2d to the 6th of June 2003. The average of participants from non-german speaking countries is increasing in each edition covering this year already 50%. Members from the organizing associations including IAGP receive a fee deduction of 10%. Next year`s academy will approach the topic of identity in multicultural groups: loss and pertenance of identity. It will take place from the 7th to the 11th of june 2004. A detailed program will follow also on the home page of the academy: www.granada-academy.org

Granada 2008 report

Lieber Jörg, liebe Natacha,

da ich mich nicht mehr persönlich von euch verabschieden konnte (ich musste schon Freitagmorgen fliegen), möchte ich euch beiden noch einmal meinen herzlichen Dank für diese gelungene Tagung aussprechen! Ich habe viele Gespräche führen können und die von mir besuchten Gruppen waren sehr anregend und ertragreich. Ich freue mich immer ganz besonders über die offene und Wert schätzende Stimmung unter den TeilnehmerInnen und fühle mich mit all dem Erlebten in dieser wunderschönen Stadt reich beschenkt.

Ich hoffe, ihr seid zufrieden und könnt jetzt den Erfolg genießen.

Mit lieben Grüßen aus dem sommerlichen Hamburg

Queridos Jorge y Natacha:

Cuando nos encontramos en el camino con personas que tienen mucho para ofrecer a los demás, es gratificante y motivo de celebración.
Mi experiencia en Granada, no fué sólo llena de grandes experiencias académicas, sino también, valoro enormemente lo recibido desde el ámbito personal, como ser humano. Ustedes hicieron la diferencia y colocaron el Self en este espacio que ofreció muchas oportunidades para compartir y respetar las diferencias. Cuenten siempre con todo mi apoyo y, con seguridad, me verán en Granada en otras ocasiones. Fué una linda experiencia intercultural y, sobretodo, humana.

Un cariño muy especial desde São Paulo. Abrazos,

hola jorge y natacha

muchas gracias por los esfuerzos de realizar estas jornadas, por abrirnos las puertas, por su humor y la capacidad de hablar desde el corazon.nos ha significado mucho y sabemos del privilegio de poder compartir con tanta gente y lo sentimos con un gran regalo de la vida.

IAGP Academy - Granada Spain -

Dear Colleagues,

I want to share with you about the International Association of Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes (IAGP) annual Academy just completed in Granada, Spain. The Academy takes place each year in Granada, in the south of Spain. The Academy brings together three group models: the psychodramatic group, the group analytic group, and the group dynamic model. About 100 people from around the globe attended and it is growing. The rate of growth of the Academy is the result of the shared learning from many cultures of these three
models and the potential for helping the world situation.

I was a member of the Academy and I presented both a lecture and a 3 day workshop about Sociatry much of the work from our research of the unpublished material of Dr. Moreno. I am convinced he was not simply a psychodramatist or psychiatrist, he was fundamentally a sociatrist. He wrote about the world as one group, and about the large sociometric structures impacting humanity, which he called the sociodynamic effect impacting all groups, to which sociatry must attend. The IAGP Academy is a true living example of sociatry in action.

In a letter I read from Zerka Moreno to the Academy, she noted that J.L. Moreno started the IAGP in 1951 as a way to change the world order, not only to help people to adjust. To this day the IAGP and the Granada Academy brings together different models of group work and people from many lands to address the needs and realities of human life.

There were outstanding practitioners and students at the Academy from Spain, England, Israel, Morocco, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria, Greece, South Africa, Cuba, Nicaragua, Chile, Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina and Brazil. I was the lone American. The Academy is a brilliantly designed conference structure unlike any I have ever before experienced. In the morning there is a lecture and discussion, setting a tone for the day. After the lecture there are small and medium size groups from each of the models: a small and medium size psychodrama group, analytic group, and group dynamic group. These groups form on the first morning of the Academy using sociometry and stay together through the entire 5 days. There is a
nice long lunch and siesta break followed with another set of groups which are topic focussed and meet through the Academy.

At the end of each day the entire Academy meets in one large group. Each year the type of large group changes, this year it was based in the group dynamic model. The structure reflects years of thoughtful and creative programming, masterfully done to maximize connection and learning. The richness of bringing together three models of group work with so many cultures made for an exceptionally rich experience. Power, domination, culture and history, language, translation, gender, boundary issues and differences of time, space and proximity, politics, analysis, sociometry, sociometric connections, triangles, dyads and synchroncity all emerged.

One morning lecture was given by a psychiatrist-psychodramatist from Chile who led groups in silence in a prison camp during the military dictatorship where he was imprisoned and where he developed a model of psychorama: internal and in silence, to help others in the camp.Granada, Spain is the site of the Academy and it felt like the right place at the right time. Granada is close to Morocco and has a large and vibrant Arab population and history, mixed in with a history of Jews who came to Granada 600 years before the birth of Christ and there is a deeply rooted Christian tradition and history. These major religions and cultures have emerged and have created a unique melding melting - called Mudejar - ablended creation and fusion of the three. The entire city sits below the Alahmbra, an ancient Mosque and Palace with Christian influence. The amazing nature of the Academy were the sociometric relationships which emerged, the tele.

As an example, and Italian psychologist offered a Jungian group that took place in the Arab Baths, making use of water during the group sessions. During one of their sessions the image of the butterfly appeared and emerged. Around the same time in another group at a different site with a different group model, the image of a butterfly
emerged as a theme. The next day in the lecture I gave to the Academy on sociatry, I concluded with a presentation about the metamorphesis of the caterpillar to the butterfly, the "imaginal cells" in the caterpillar that carry the DNA and blue print for the transformation - and how humanity is in the same process during this period of global climate warming and how in fact we are the "imaginal cells". These synchroncities of connection extended deep into the group gathered who have all now left and returned to their own sociometric networks, all in some way deeply changed.

Like all endeavors it had some limitations. There lacked participation from other parts of Africa and unlike past years, there were no Palistineans participating. For some members of the Academy there were conflicts about boundaries of time. The starting and ending of groups had a fluidity to it, a kind of dance unfamiliar to some of us. For others, in the analytic model, time boundaries were important and needed more attending to hold, frame and contain. Time and space for some became an issue, reflecting differences of culture. The process of defining oneself seemed to be a theme for the whole experience. This defining of self was steeped in depth and
richness of differences of culture and approaches, with much to reflect upon.

This was a very active sociometry! One reason was the Spanish culture and Granada, where physical proximity, emotion, passion and eroticism are much more in the air than in much of North America. There was an almost endless physical contact in the passing of strangers on the street. The richness and heart of the Arab
communities, their generosity, openness impacted the setting. Chance meetings with a shop keeper in the Arab markets let to suggestions for where to visit small villages, which led to another discussion with another shopkeeper about Clinton and Obama. A chance lunch at an Arab cafe with a group from the Academy led to an invitation to an encounter a few days later about the nature of religion and God. I arrived for this meeting to find that a feast had been prepared of traditional food as a gift and to honor an encounter between an Spanish Muslim and this American psychodramtist, an encounter in an ancient Arab market.

The Academy was a wonderful chance to meet some of the members of the IAGP - Moreno's other organization - and taught me a great deal about conferences, conference structures and sociometric links. The next Academy will take place in Granada in 2009.

Best,

Estimados colegas y amigos Jorge y Natacha;

Unas simples líneas para agradecerles su amable acogida y decirles que conservamos, mis esudiantes y yo, un muy buen recuerdo de nuestra estacia en Granada.

Cordiales saludos

Dear Colleagues:

My experience in IAGP Summer Academy that took place in Granada was unforgettable. It was not only the opportunity to be in such a beautiful and historical city, sharing information with colleagues around the world, but also, the beginning of new friendships.

Jorge and Natasha gave us the best of themselves and offered us the warmest stay. As hosts and coordinators of the event, they stimulated respect for the cultural diversities among the participants, eliminated language barriers and created a special environment for Self Awareness and Sensitive Competence developing, necessary first steps to be Culturally Competent. I would like to express my gratitude towards them and all the staff for their contribution.

It is not possible to forget our personal process in the small groups, using the most important and present methods in the international scenery, such as analytic, psycho-dramatic and group dynamics.

It is also very important to highlight the rich experiences shared during the conferences in the morning, with professionals who made reference to Inter-cultural Competence and Mediation of Conflicts, in subjects such as: Sociatry: How to Mediate Global Conflicts; the Collective Trauma and its Reflex on the Group; the Contribution of the Group Dynamic; the Impact of Projections: Women in Iran and Germany; and finally, Bridges among West and East.

The world is changing and conflicts are global now. As caregivers, it is mandatory to continue working on being culturally competent and we have to prepare and allow ourselves to be open to the differences and see farther than our geographical frontiers.

I hope to see you in Rome and special regards from Brazil,

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