Rhythm and the Intersubjective Development of the Psyche-soma: Celebrating the Work of Victor Guerra

 

Victor Guerra (1958-2017) was an extremely well-known and renowned Uruguayan psychologist and psychoanalyst in Latin America and other parts of the world. He was a member of the Asociación Psicoanalítica del Uruguay (APU) and a member of the Board for Children and Adolescents of the Psychoanalytic Federation of Latin America (FEPAL) from 2014 to 2016. Based on his experience and PhD research, he developed and displayed an illustrative documentary on the Indicators of Intersubjectivity, which shows how the baby develops through the spectrum of relational subjectivation in co-construction with primary objects during the first year of life.

In his clinical practice, Victor lived with a unique sensitivity, creativity, and depth, weaving words, rhythms, and knowledge in his own profound way. He often emphasized the importance of the baby’s and young child’s sensory experiences in joint clinical encounters with them and their parents. Victor was a psychoanalyst of encounters, a poet of relationships and their unique rhythms. With great care, he would discuss dense and significant psychoanalytic concepts, always allowing himself to be influenced by the arts—poetry, literature, cinema, and short films—thus capturing the “sublime” in humanity. This capacity to engage with various belief systems and narratives was central to his practice and thinking.

Victor devoted his life to working with babies, children, and their parents. His doctoral thesis explored the rhythm and the maternal law, positing the hypothesis that rhythmic encounters foster subjectification and symbolization in the infant. Guerra questioned the long-standing focus on Lacan's paternal law in psychoanalytic thinking, suggesting instead a maternal law of encounter, which complements the paternal law and facilitates these vital early processes.

Though much of his work remains unpublished, his legacy lives on in the events, lectures, supervisions, and journal articles where his ideas were shared. This conference is an attempt to bring his lively thinking to the fore and to honour his work, and we are honoured to do so. We invite you to join us in celebrating and engaging with Victor Guerra's profound contributions to psychoanalysis. 

T. S. Eliot
‘What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from’.

Prayer – D.W. Winnicott:
Oh God! May I be alive when I die.

(Winnicott, 1978/2016)

To view the full conference programme please click here. 

Please note that in person tickets are limited to 50 people and will be on a first come first serve basis. 

Please ensure you select the correct ticket type. Proof of bpf membership will need to be presented. 

Speaker Biographies 

Dr Eva Crasnow, Speaker (Second Presentation)
Dr Eva Crasnow qualified from IPCAPA in 2013. She has worked across NHS settings, both generic and specialist CAMHS and in the charity sector. She is passionate about Infant Observation and facilitates a parent-infant observation seminar here at the BPF. She is the Director and Co-Founder of Chorus - a social enterprise providing therapeutic interventions to families with children under 5 who have faced or face adversity.

Bernard Golse, Speaker (First Presentation)
Pediatrician, Child Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst (Member of the French Psychoanalytic Association), Bernard GOLSE is former head of the Child Psychiatry department at the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris and Emeritus Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at René Descartes University (Paris V), now part of the University of Paris. He currently chairs the CEREP-Phymentin association, which brings together eight child psychiatric care establishments (health and medico-social) and a training establishment, COPES.

Celso Gutfreind, Speaker (Final Presentation)
Celso Gutfreind is a psychiatrist trained at the Fundação Universitária Mário Martins and the Brazilian Association of Psychiatry. He is a full member with teaching functions of the Sociedade Brasileira de Psicanálise de Porto Alegre (SBPdePA), PhD in Psychology at the University of Paris, and author of 54 published books spanning poetry, children’s and young adult literature, chronicles, theatre, and psychoanalysis.

Macarena Hernandez (Chairing the first presentation; also involved in opening remarks)
Macarena Hernández is a Clinical Psychologist currently pursuing an MPhil/PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies at University College London (UCL) and The Anna Freud (AF). She holds a Master of Science in Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology from UCL and AF, as well as a Master’s in Psychoanalytic Clinical Practice with Children and Young People from Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile. Macarena specialises in Parent-Infant Psychotherapy (PIP) and Perinatal Psychotherapeutic Interventions with hospitalized babies and their parents in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). She worked as part of the welcoming team at Casa del Encuentro, a psychoanalytic and community-based service for children aged 0-6 and their caregivers, inspired by Maison Verte. Currently, Macarena supports asylum-seeking families with children aged 0-3 in a Therapeutic Playgroup at 10 Windsor Walk. She is also one of the founders of the Latin American Psychoanalytic Hub (LAPH), promoting psychoanalytic exchange between Latin America and the UK.

Pr. Alberto Konicheckis (Speaker for the Second Presentation)
Bio - Psychoanalyst in Aix-en-Provence, France, Member of the Société Psychanalytique de Paris (SPP), the Société Européenne pour la Psychanalyse de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescence (SEPEA), and the Société Française de Thérapie Familiale Psychanalytique (SFTFP). Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Clinical Psychopathology at the University of Paris Cité (formerly Paris Descartes). President of the Groupe d'Études en Clinique Psychanalytique (GECP) in Aix-en-Provence (2016-2023).

Victoria Nicolodi, Speaker (Second Presentation)
Victoria Nicolodi is a qualified child and adolescent psychotherapist from the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Association (IPCAPA) and the Anna Freud Centre (AFC/UCL). In addition to her qualifications in the UK, she trained as a Clinical Psychologist in Brazil. She is also the founder of the Latin American Psychoanalytic Hub (LAPH). Victoria has a deep interest in cultural and social structures and their interplay with psychoanalysis, which has led her to co-lead a series of seminars at the British Psychotherapy Foundation titled “Without Borders.” Over the years, Victoria's clinical practice has spanned diverse therapeutic settings. Currently, she works in the community by supporting adoptive parents and their toddlers and holds a position within the NHS working with care-experienced children and young people.

Inge-Martine Pretorius, Chair (Second Presentation)
Inge-Martine Pretorius, PhD (Microbiology) and DPsych (Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy), qualified as a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at the Anna Freud Centre (AFC) in London. She is a Lecturer at University College London (UCL) and a Visiting Professor at Vienna University. For over 20 years she worked at the AFC; as Clinical Lead of the Parent-Toddler service, facilitating a therapeutic Parent-Toddler Group and Observation Seminars; organising and teaching the AFC-UCL MSc Psychoanalytic Perspectives of Child Development Course and curating Anna Freud’s Hampstead War Nursery Archives. She currently works in Private Practice and for the National Health Service, running a Child Psychotherapy Service in a nursery school in a deprived area of London. She has published in the field of molecular genetics and psychoanalysis.

*If you are a psychotherapist or counsellor residing in an active conflict zone, you are eligible to attend this event free of charge (regardless of whether you are a bpf member or not). Please email membership@bpf-psychotherapy to enquire about a ticket.