IPU Spotlight

IPU lecturer Thomas Loer has published a new book. Co-edited with Ludwig Paul Häußner (available here), the publication, titled "Entrepreneurship im Gespräch", engages with entrepreneurship through dialogue. It focuses on responsibility and seeks to answer the question of what mindset can effectively reconcile economic success and social progress.

The IPU Berlin mourns the loss of educational scientist and publicist Micha Brumlik. From 1981 to 2000, Brumlik served as a professor of education with a focus on social pedagogy, cultural theory, and education at what was then the Department of Education at Heidelberg University, and subsequently, until his retirement in 2013, as a professor of general education at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. From 2000 to 2005, he also headed the Fritz Bauer Institute there. His commitment to supporting young scholars, which extended beyond his academic field, was reflected in his role as co-founder of the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk (ELES), whose advisory board he chaired for ten years. As a public intellectual for whom education was a cultural practice with critical aspirations and emancipatory potential, he repeatedly engaged with psychoanalysis, for example in his monograph on Sigmund Freud, in which he honored Freud as the anthropologist of the 20th century. Brumlik maintained close ties with the IPU Berlin as a lecturer, notably during the IPU Summer Schools in 2020 and 2021. Brumlik passed away at the end of 2025 following a serious illness.

IPU research assistant Simon Kempe has been awarded the Hamburger Fellowship Persönlichkeitsstörungen 2025. The Gesellschaft zur Erforschung und Therapie von Persönlichkeitsstörungen (GePs) e.V. and the Asklepios Kliniken Hamburg GmbH annually award the most generously endowed prizes in the German-speaking world for clinical research in the field of personality disorders. Kempe’s award-winning submission addresses the question of whether personality structure, as measured prior to a potentially traumatic event, can be a risk factor for subsequent post-traumatic symptoms, and its implications for psychotherapeutic practice.

The Erich Fromm Study Center has launched a video series available via the EFSC YouTube channel. It builds on the “Erich Fromm Online Meetings” that have been taking place since 2021, in which an international research community discusses current contributions on Fromm based on videos and texts provided in advance. The new series currently features 18 pre-recorded presentations by the speakers on various topics, ranging in length from 15 to 60 minutes. Also on YouTube, the recording of the panel “A Language of Love” is now available here. It wasn’t just horse enthusiasts who were able to learn something about interspecies communication between horses and humans—and its intersections with psychoanalytic theory and therapeutic practice—during this evening moderated by IPU Professor Benigna Gerisch (German only).

How Erich Fromm can help us understand why people are drawn to authoritarian movements, why outrage works so well on social media, and what solidarity-based forms of coexistence might look like—these are the questions explored in the November special issue of the APA journal "The Humanistic Psychologist," entitled "Erich Fromm’s Humanistic Psychology as Normative Orientation Amid Social and Political Challenges." The articles build upon Fromm's idea that psyche and society are inextricably intertwined: social structures shape psychological needs, and these, in turn, influence social orders. For example, articles examine what "transformative leadership" can look like in organizations, how the dynamics of outrage in progressive online communities can be understood psychoanalytically, what psychological logic underlies the appeal of right-wing populist movements, and what lessons can be learned for contemporary practice from historical projects of solidarity economy, such as the Boimondau commune.The issue was edited and guest-edited by Niclas O’Donnokoé, Philip Jammermann, and Thomas Kühn from the IPU Berlin. The introduction by the three editors as well as Rainer Funk’s article “Erich Fromm’s psychological concept of humanism” are freely available via open access; IPU members can access all articles in the special issue through the library portal.

IPU student Konstantin Heinrich was awarded the Student Prize of the German Society for Music Physiology and Musician Medicine for his bachelor’s thesis “When is a Musician (Not) a Musician?” The prize is awarded annually for outstanding empirical theses that address topics in music physiology, musicians' medicine, or musicians' health. Konstantin Heinrich’s thesis, supervised by IPU Professor Bernd Ahrbeck, explores how trained musicians experience career transitions.

A special issue of the journal Zeitschrift für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie focusing on Personality Dynamics includes an article co-authored by IPU Professor Leonie Kampe. In the article, available in full here, Kampe and her colleagues discuss the dimensional assessment of personality functions. This transdiagnostic framework, linked to early relational experiences, serves to classify disorder severity and clinical phenotypes, as well as to facilitate individualized treatment planning.

In the ARTE docuseries “42 – Die Antwort auf fast Alles”, IPU Professor Benigna Gerisch appears in the episode “Optimieren wir uns in den Wahnsinn?” (English: "Are we optimising ourselves into insanity?"). In it, she discusses the psychological consequences of societal pressure to be perfect and perform, and examines the cultural significance of self-optimization from a psychoanalytic perspective. The episode is available in the ARTE media library. Prof. Dr. Benigna Gerisch has conducted research on self-optimization in several projects—most recently in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Vera King and Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa on the project “Quanitfying Life".

“Marilyn Monroe’s Last Session,” a play by IPU Professor Andreas Hamburger and Dr. Vivian Pramatarov-Hamburger, will be performed at the National Theater in Sofia. The play centers on the final encounter between Marilyn Monroe and her psychoanalyst Ralph Greenson on the evening before Marilyn’s death; it explores what might have transpired between the two during that hour. It also puts forward a small psychoanalytic hypothesis, which, however, cannot be revealed here yet. For those who do not speak Bulgarian, the performances on September 15, 16, and 17 will feature English subtitles.

A joint paper by IPU research assistant Simon Kempe, IPU lecturer Werner Köpp, and IPU professor Lutz Wittmann has been awarded a research prize from the International Psychoanalytic Association. In the article, available in full here, the authors examine the positive effects of increasing emotional regulation in dreams during the course of psychotherapy.

The findings of the study “Quantifying Life”, conducted at IPU Berlin in collaboration with, among others, the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt and the University of Jena, are now also available in condensed form to the English-speaking academic community. IPU Professor Benigna Gerisch (Principal Investigator at IPU), co-director of the study and IPU Foundation Board member Vera King, and co-director Hartmut Rosa have published the volume “The Measured Life in the Digital Age: Optimization by Numbers” with Routledge. The anthology, available here, demonstrates how the growing focus on digital metrics and optimization shapes work and organizations, relationships on social media, and physical self-tracking; what incentives and risks this creates for culture, the psyche, and society; and how it shifts the culturally defined boundaries between normality and pathology.

On September 20, 2025, the Academy Day will take place at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf under the title "SEHNSUCHT & SINNSUCHE – Was sagt die Psychoanalyse dazu?"; IPU Senior Professor Martin Teising and IPU Professor Annette Streeck-Fischer will deliver lectures there. In addition, Martin Teising will speak at the EPCUS Conference “Loss and Hope” organized by the European Psychoanalytical Federation (EPF) in Brussels and online from October 2–4, 2025, and extends an invitation on behalf of the EPF; the conference will examine, from a psychoanalytic perspective, the connections between loss and hope in times of technological upheaval, conflict, and ecological crises.

IPU professor Leonie Kampe has published a new book in the series Analysis of the Psyche and Psychotherapy by Psychosozialverlag. Entitled Abwehr (Defense), she examines this psychodynamic concept from a historical and developmental perspective. In this compact work, availabe here, Kampe concludes by highlighting the significance of the concept for clinical practice and explaining individual defense formations using examples.

In an interview with the youngest participant of the Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance 2024, she also talks about the KSG Leadership Day, which took place at the IPU as part of the Summer School, and has nothing but praise for it. “We were invited to rethink what kind of leadership our times actually need: not just strategic or visionary, but psychologically aware,” summarizes Joya Elias, then manager at the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law in Malta, in the interview, which can be read in full here.

IPU professor Christine Kirchhoff was interviewed on Deutschlandfunk Kultur about reports of women being attacked with syringes. In the interview, which can be listened to here, she explains the impact of such actual attacks, as well as those that are merely announced and/or reported in the media.

IPU-Professor Andreas Hamburger hat in einer Online-Vorlesung an der New Yorker Columbia University zwei der im Jahr 2023 am breitesten rezipierten Filme besprochen. Auf Einladung der dortigen Professorin und Psychoanalytikerin Adele Tutter sprach er im psychoanalytischen Studienprogramm des Instituts für vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft und Gesellschaft zu Verbindungslinien zwischen den Werken Anatomie eines Falls und The Zone of Interest. Einen Mitschnitt der Vorlesung finden Sie hier.

More or less work, lazy or overworked? Thomas Kühn added the scientific perspective to the discussion about the realities of working life in Germany on rbb24 – Der Talk. The program can be viewed in full here. Topics included the four-day week, questions about work-life balance, and the quality of work being carried out today. In the program, hosted by Volker Wieprecht, Thomas Kühn's guests were DGB chair Yasmin Fahimi and Christina Diem-Puello, president of the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs.

Rolf Haubl, former director of the Sigmund Freud Institute and professor of sociology and psychoanalytic social psychology at Goethe University Frankfurt, has passed away. Rolf Haubl had close ties to the IPU Berlin. He helped establish the master's program in psychodynamically based organizational development (now MA Leadership and Counseling) and played a key role in shaping it with his wealth of experience as a training analyst, supervisor, and organizational consultant. The IPU Berlin will miss Rolf Haubl as a valued colleague and friend to many. Read the obituary from the SFI Frankfurt/Main here.

Christina von Braun, a cultural theorist closely associated with the IPU both in terms of content and, in the past, as an advisory board member, has published the book Kampf ums Unbewusste (The Struggle for the Unconscious) together with psychoanalyst Tilo Held. In this work, available here, the two take a sharp look at the negative dimensions of unconscious dynamics that shape our social coexistence—whether in the form of anti-Semitism and authoritarian tendencies, in debates about gender roles, or in dealing with fake news and conspiracy narratives. They look at the past two hundred years and ask how an interdisciplinary approach to psychoanalysis can help us better understand and overcome the current social crises.

Philip Jammermann wrote a review of Michael Schüßler's book “Die Sprachen des Leibes und die Leiblichkeit der Sprache” (The languages of the body and the corporeality of language). He is studying in the bachelor's program in Psychology at the IPU and was given the opportunity to contribute his text to the special edition of “Constelaciones. Revista de Teoría Crítica” on the topic of ‘Gender Relations, Sexuality and Capitalism in Critical Social Theory’. In the review, which can be read in full here, he emphasizes as a central strength that Schüßler brings Alfred Lorenzer and his combination of Marxism and psychoanalysis back into focus. On the other hand, Jammermann is critical of the fact that Schüßler thinks of gender and sexuality in traditional categories and ignores current theoretical trends in feminist subject philosophies. Furthermore, he believes that Schüßler's critique of Judith Butler is misguided. Despite these weaknesses, Jammermann recognizes Schüßler's contribution to the debate on corporeality and language.

Simon Kempe has been awarded the EFPP Research Award 2025 by the European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (EFPP). With this award, the EFPP honors outstanding scientific work in the field of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Kempe's award-winning paper is part of his cumulative dissertation under the supervision of IPU professor Lutz Wittmann in the IPU research project on affect regulation in dreams in borderline personality disorders.

The IPU professor Christine Kirchhoff and her former research assistant Aaron Lahl have co-edited the recently published book “Laplanche kritisch wiedergelesen - Beiträge zu Körper, Sexualität und Verführung” (Critically Rereading Laplanche – Contributions on Body, Sexuality and Seduction). The volume, which is available here and in which IPU alumni Hauke Kromminga, Henning Lampe and Anna-Myrte Palatini as well as former IPU lecturer Udo Hock also contribute, discusses individual concepts and metaphors of Laplanche, ranging from the enthusiastic to the critical perspectives. The possible implications of his approach for cultural, sexual and gender theory are considered and comparisons are drawn with other metapsychologies, such as Kleinian.

At the beginning of the year, Johanna L. Klinge published an article in the multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal Development and Psychopathology. In the article, which is available in full here, the IPU research associate – together with IPU professor Annette Klein, among others – examines whether low self-regulation in children is a risk factor for or a consequence of internalizing symptoms, or whether both develop together along a common spectrum and can be traced back to common causes. Also in January, Johanna L. Klinge was selected for the Psychodynamic Research Mentorship Program, which is conducted as part of a collaboration between the Erikson Institute at the Austen Riggs Center and the Yale Child Study Center. As one of nine mentees, she will receive support from a mentor at University College London (UCL) and feedback from other international scientists for one year as part of the program. This is in relation to a psychodynamic research project currently underway at the IPU. Interested parties can find details of the program here.

IPU doctoral candidate Alina Brehm, together with IPU professor Phil Langer, has published an article on empathy in research processes in the Forum Qualitative Social Research. In the article (available here), they both examine the meaning and reflection of empathy in emotionally challenging research situations, especially in cases of seemingly “failed” empathy. They discuss methodological strategies for analyzing such encounters in order to demonstrate their epistemological relevance for critical knowledge production – with reference to the concept of “strong reflexivity”. Langer developed the latter together with his colleagues Angela Kühner and Andrea Ploder in 2016. They recently followed up on this with an article (available here) in the journal Psychologie & Gesellschaftskritik titled “It is professional to have feelings”. In this further development of the concept, they examine the interplay between reflexivity, the vulnerability of researchers and academic kindness in order to outline a relational research ethic and possible approaches to highly reflexive university teaching.

In the current issue of the art magazine Monopol, IPU student Alissa Geffert has reviewed the psychoanalytically inspired podcast Fashion Neurosis. In her article (which can be read in full here), Geffert not only sheds light on the format hosted by Sigmund Freud's great-granddaughter Bella Freud with regard to what it reveals about the host and guests, but also with regard to the question of whether it contributes to making psychoanalysis “fashionable”.

At the Motivational and Cognitive Neuroscience (MOCON) Lab IPU researchers explore the neuronal basis of complex human abilities, such as multitasking, prospective memory and cognitive control. Prof. Christine Stelzel is the Lab's principal investigator. Learn more about MOCON Lab on this website.