Dr. Isolde de Vries in Uruguay
Dr. Isolde de Vries, psychiatrist and Adlerian therapist, from Hamburg, Germany, dictating the seminar Infidelity in the context of the Family, for members of the Center of Adlerian Studies – Montevideo, March 28th of 2010.
Interview:
Date and place of birth: 28.10.1959 in Bremen
Nationality: german
Occupation: physician, psychosomatic medicine, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis
Academic information: Dr. med.
About psychological approach:
1. Do you follow any tradition psychoanalytic or more linked to new approaches?
I follow the individualpsychological way of analysis (Alfred Adler), but I am influenced by selfpsychology (Kohut) and Psychodrama (Moreno) and familytherapy (Bowen).
My psychoanalytical setting is to sit in front of the patient, not behind him. Patient could sit or lay, it depends on their way of feeling safty.
With some patients I am working more psychodynamic than psychoanalytical, that means setting is once a week.
2. Could you tell us about your professional practice in Germany, and particular on a group of work with a teachers:Khawia Abu-Baker,Takeshi Tamur,David Mc Gill ,and Adela G. Garcia.? (How did the idea of working together come from? When did you start? Which goals do you chase?)
In Germany psychotherapy (bahavioral therapy, psychodynamic and psychoanalitycal therape) is payed by the insurances. So I have patients from every class.
Familytherapy people have to pay on their own.
I see 30 patients a month, that means roundabout 30 hours a week, and Friday I see couples or families, but not so much.
I am working on my own as a physician, but I share my big room (for groups) with some other people, who offer Yoga, Qigong, Pilates, etc.
The international cross-cultural-clinical-collaboration started 2005 during a congress from IFTA and AFTA in Washington. David Mc Gill and Khawla Abu-Baker invited Takeshi Tamur and me for supervision and 2006 Adela Garcia started to join us.
We usually meet once a year during and arounf the IFTA-congress and meanwhile we communicate via email. In the meantime we visited us already in our practice and had life supervison, so I visited David in Boston, Khawla in Akko, and daviod and Khawla visited me in my practice. In B.A, we will join Adela one day in her practice. We always asked the patient before, if we could join them. Usually the patients take it for a great grand to get so much attention also from abroad.
Our Idea was to understand Psychotherapy from different cultural background, we wanted to be a reflecting group like supervison just with the special approach of interculturality.
3. In your research, how do you approach on the topic of extramarital relations in the diverse cultures ?
As we offer each year a workshop we choosed this year the topic infidelity, also it was connected with our last case-discussion , which we presented in Portoruez/Slovenia.
We are not specialist of infidelity, we just started to think about this topic.
4. What do you extract in clean of this crossing of cultures? Have you had any surprise product of your investigations?
Yes, but this I would like to explain personally.
About extramarital relations in the diverse cultures
1. Could you tell us on that we speak when we speak about an extramarital relation?
We changed the topic to infidelity, because of course not every couple is married but still have to deal with infidelity.
2. In brief, What change have along the history had extramarital relations?
I cannot comment that in brief.
In one way it changed a lot in another way nothing changed.
3. Is there a different between get married person and single relationchip or not? Do people feel more “free” if they dont get married?
Yes, they usually get earlier separated than married people.
It depends on the cultural background what for a frame a not married couple gave themselves.
4. What personal factors affect?
Infidelity affects trust and safty feelings, that means it brings up mistrust and unsafty relationships.
It has also effects to the next generation, children can suffer under the secret or splittet parents.
5. What effects does a extramarital relation has on a marital relation? How do you re-define a relationship?
Lot to say about it, I cannot say in general. At least I look to every couple or patient or client as a singular case and try to understand the special history behind the fact of infidelity or extramarital relationship.
7. How does the genre affect? Are there more criticism to woman than men?
It depends on the culture, in Arabic culture woman get punished, in European culture there is no difference.
How is it in Uruguay?
8. In countries that you come working, does it appreciate a major incidence of extramarital relations in any culture especially?
I believe it is everywhere nearly the same, hidden or open.
About your visit to Uruguay
1. Do you know American Latin? In affirmative case.What countries do you know of AL?
I am the first time in Latin America.
2. Do you speak spanish?
No
3. Could you mention something to us about your visit to Uruguay?
I am very excited to meet colleges in Montevideo.
I am interested to hear how their conditions are and what for approaches they have..
I also would like to hear something about the history, because another big point in our intercultural working grup is the influence of war and traumata transferred over generations.
By Karina González