New Parents- Therapists: Personal and Professional Conflicts

On November 29 th 2025, a one-day conference was held at the Hellenic Organization for Psychotherapy & Education in Group Analysis (HOPE in GA), titled “New Parents- Therapists: Personal and Professional Conflicts”. The event formed part of the series of conferences co- organised with my colleague, Michaela Kastrini.

The conference focused on the intersection of the parental and therapeutic roles. The first speaker, a therapist, reflected on her experience of pregnancy while facilitating an analytic group, highlighting the impact of this personal transition on the cohesion of the group Pregnancy functioned as an “undeniable reality” that could not remain concealed, activating fantasies, expectations and transference processes within the group.

The second speaker, also a therapist, approached the topic from the perspective of fatherhood. Although the pregnancy did not involve physical changes for him, he explored the psychological and emotional processes related to caring the patients, as well as the expectation that therapists may unconsciously project onto the “child-patient”.

This was followed by small experiential groups in which participants worked through the material, and subsequently a median group, allowing participant to experience the transition from smaller to larger group dynamics.

The experience highlighted how therapists’ personal transitions do not remain outside the therapeutic frame, but instead become integral to the group process – offering valuable material for reflection and professional development.