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On November 7–8, 2025, the 10th International ISTDP Conference “Superego Resistance” ✨ took place in Gdańsk, organized by the Polish ISTDP Institute Sentio in cooperation with the Medical University of Gdańsk. Blanka Zapalska took part in the event, drawing inspiration and rich material for her ongoing clinical work.
The event welcomed two leading ISTDP therapists from around the world – Jon Frederickson, a lecturer, supervisor, clinician and author of numerous publications and widely read books, and Monica Urru – a psychotherapist with 20 years of experience in ISTDP, conducting trainings, supervisions and clinical practice across Europe. Their presence gave the conference the atmosphere of meeting true masters — close, practical and deeply inspiring. 🎓🌍
When the voice of the superego drowns out emotions 🔊💔
From the ISTDP perspective, the conference’s central theme — the superego — plays a crucial role in maintaining the very symptoms that bring patients into therapy. It fuels the inner drive toward self-punishment, the repetition of suffering, and the avoidance of authentic emotional experience. ❤️🩹
Two days of intensive practice and clinical learning 🎥🗣️
The conference had a deeply practical character. For two full days, participants analyzed session recordings led by Jon Frederickson and Monica Urru, closely observing:
- how a pathological superego blocks change and distorts the therapeutic relationship,
- why restructuring the superego is often essential in therapy,
- what traps it sets for both the patient and the therapist,
- and how therapists can recognize their own reactions and avoid being “pulled into” the client’s superego narrative.
A space for connection and transformation ✨🤍
The “Superego Resistance” conference offered not only theory, but a genuinely interactive and engaging learning environment. There was time for questions, discussions, and meaningful one-on-one conversations with the ISTDP masters.
