In the heart of Prague, a city known for its rich history and architectural grandeur, Michal Novák is charting new territories in the field of mental health in his region. Certified in Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) since 2022, he is playing a pivotal role in the TFP training of emerging therapists. In the following conversation with him, l invite you to share his experience and gain insights into the practical challenges and breakthroughs of establishing a TFP Group at a new location.

Veronica – Michal, thank you so much for accepting to do this interview. I am sure all members will be interested in your unique experience. Could you introduce yourself to them?

My name is Michal Novák. I live in Prague, and I am a psychologist, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and since 2022, also a certified TFP therapist. In the institute where I am now involved in the theoretical training of candidates as a training lecturer, I was originally trained in group psychoanalytic psychotherapy. But over time, I expanded my education to include couple and family psychotherapy, and especially individual psychotherapy, which is what I primarily provide in my private practice since 2008. Before that, I spent about three years in a psychiatric hospital, mostly working on a structured treatment ward for women with addictions.

Veronica – So you have practiced in very diverse psychotherapeutic settings. How did you get specifically interested in Transference Focused Psychotherapy?

I first encountered TFP long ago through what has become the legendary Symfora tapes of Otto Kernberg, in which he treats “Alfred Koops”, a man struggling with alcohol issues and aggression. Then, in 2015, at a seminar hosted by my home society for psychoanalytic psychotherapy, I discovered I wasn’t the only one who appreciated this straightforward style of work. It was also at this seminar that I met Petr Klimpl, a key and senior member of our society without whose support the Prague TFP group might never have emerged and who has continually nurtured its development from the beginning.

Veronica – You discovered a hidden community of colleagues with similar interest. How did you manage to get the training you where seeking?

With support of our society, we began organizing two weekend courses dedicated to TFP over the following two years, introducing the TFP method in our region, where it was practically unknown at the time. Both weekends were taught by Eduarda Vendys Bakalar, who, despite practicing in the Netherlands, fortunately remains open to her Czech roots. This initiative culminated in 2018 with the start of a comprehensive two-year TFP therapy training program, preparing candidates for TFP therapist certification. Eduarda Vendys Bakalar was joined throughout by George Brownstone and Sergio Dazzi. For completeness, I should add that a third TFP weekend took place in 2023, led by Nel Draijer and Sergio Dazzi.

Veronica – Where you aware of all the ramifications of you initiatives?

Looking back, I really appreciate having been involved in all these pioneering efforts. I get the feeling that none of us realized at the time the significance of what we were participating in. Where am I going with this? Well, at least from my own experience, training in psychodynamic and psychoanalytic modalities often does not dedicate enough space to the techniques of treating personality disorders, so candidates later lack effective technical tools when interacting with this ever-growing spectrum of clientele. As a result, more or less explicit recommendations from senior colleagues suggest avoiding this group of patients. It’s therefore not surprising that cognitive-behavioral therapy dominates the treatment of personality disorders in the Czech Republic. TFP, then, is an opportunity to strengthen and encourage the Czech psychodynamic and psychoanalytic educated public and to put effective tools in their hands.

Veronica – In way, you are saying that TFP techniques have given you and colleagues ways to be more efficient and raise the overall credibility of psychodynamic and psychoanalytic treatment. How did it affect your personal way of treating patients?

Although I work in a private practice outside the public insurance system—thus preselecting the group of patients that come to me—I benefit from the TFP approach basically all the time. While I don’t begin work with every patient strictly in TFP mode, there are moments when my mind securely wanders toward thoughts about activated object relations. This is also a source of greater comfort and a sense of assurance that, thanks to being more educated about working with transference/countertransference, I can better understand what’s going on inside the patient. For more severe patients, I can more effectively handle their crises, whether in their real life or directly between us in the session; for “milder” patients, or rather those who function better in reality, TFP offers another perspective on capturing more subtle phenomena in the session—such as feeling bored in the countertransference or sensing an emptiness in the patient’s narrative and in the therapy as a whole.

For me, TFP makes psychoanalysis less grandiose and more accessible to a broader range of patients. It places less emphasis on delivering a “miraculous” interpretation to a carefully selected patient, and instead teaches me how to pay attention and make use of seemingly trivial details in the “here and now” interactions between me and the patient. The focus and close reliance on the “empirical data” of our shared experiences also strikes me as useful for staying with the patient’s emotions and avoiding intellectualizations. Although probably we all love to give interpretations, I now have a better grasp of how the interpretive process is timed, as a gradual build-up following a series of preceding interventions.

I personally find the Kleinian (and TFP) view of human functioning as an eternal struggle between love and hate very close to my heart in that it “plays no games”, does not side with any aspect of the person, is not “politically correct” and is free from ideology. Last but not least, what I find very refreshing about TFP as a method derived from psychoanalysis is the balancing act between exploring the inner life of the patient and at the same time his functioning in reality, which for some more orthodox psychoanalytic approaches could be perceived as an unjustified acting-out of the therapist.

Veronica – It is very stimulating to see you give very specific exemples on how TFP enriched your vision and practice of psychotherapy. Did it have enough impact on your colleagues to motivate the creation of a group and implement other training initiatives?

Earlier, I talked about the first ever run of the comprehensive TFP program between 2018 – 2020. This run produced a total of 3 certified therapists in TFP. A large number of participants from that first run, whether they are before or after their basic certification, continue in TFP supervision. In other words, two supervision groups are currently active: the first consists mainly of candidates preparing for TFP therapist certification, while the second, smaller group is made up of already-certified TFP therapists who aspire, in the future, to achieve the next level of TFP certification. Although we work in different parts of the country, we do our best to stay in contact beyond supervision and keep up with each other’s activities. We are also planning intervision events for both groups.

Last year (2024) a second run of the same ongoing TFP program was opened, for which Eduarda Vendys Bakalar invited Paul Wijts and Luis Valenciano to join her. Some of us certified therapists from the first run of the training are involved in some parts of this training has organizers and as lecturers.

Our TFP group’s activities (we currently have the status of a Working Group under the Czech Society for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy) include running this second round of training and, in particular, raising awareness of the TFP method among both professionals and the general public in the Czech Republic. I would like to emphasise the significant contribution of my colleague Renata Herentinova – also a certified TFP therapist – who plays an important role in the coordination and conceptual thinking of Czech TFP.

Veronica – Your involvement in the endeavour is impressive. Are there any other projects you would like to tackle?

In addition to spreading awareness about the method, my goal and great wish is to publish a Czech translation of the book Psychodynamic Therapy for Personality Pathology by Eve Caligor. What I like about the book is the comprehensiveness and depth, the many practical illustrations, and the introduction of the TFP approach not just as a method for more difficult cases. In my opinion, this is material that could serve as several manuals together. The publication of such a book in the Czech language would certainly not only better position TFP in the Czech Republic, but could also make the method much more accessible and familiar to a larger number of interested people. Unfortunately, I repeatedly run into the objective reality of a relatively small book market in the Czech Republic (and Slovakia), and publishers’ reluctance to take on the business risk they see in publishing a book of this length. But since I’ve already started working on this project, I certainly won’t give up yet.

Michal’s deep commitment to his practice and dedication in training the next generation of TFP therapists underscore a significant shift towards addressing the specific needs of patients with complex personality disorders. His efforts to bring TFP to the forefront in the Czech Republic, through intensive training programs and public awareness, aim to equip therapists with the necessary tools to enhance their therapeutic practices effectively. His aspiration to publish a Czech translation of “Psychodynamic Therapy for Personality Pathology” by Eve Caligor further exemplify his motivation to enriching his local psychotherapeutic landscape. In that aspect, his actions are not mere professional endeavour but a passionate pursuit to cultivate a robust therapeutic community that embraces complexity with competence and compassion.

Veronica Steiner

Ps. Veronica Steiner

Veronica Steiner Segal is a Chilean clinical psychologist who graduated in 1998. Since her beginnings she has been working with patients with Severe Personality Disorders in different health institutions in her country, and since 2018 she is a certified TFP therapist. In 2019 she obtained her accreditation as a teacher and supervisor. Since the same year she is coordinator of Grupo TFP Chile. She is the Executive Officer for the Board and she collaborates with the T&E Committee. She also teaches at the University of Valparaiso, in the Department of Psychiatry, where she also teaches in the Diploma of Severe Personality Disorders.
She collaborates in different courses looking for the diffusion of TFP. Together with Luis Valenciano and Pepa Gonzalez she directs an important training in TFP for Spanish speaking students, Instituto TFP Hispanoamerica.

TFP Chile WebsitE

Dear Colleagues,

Life can be difficult. In fact, it is often difficult. To be honest, as we begin this new year, I’ve had my moments of discouragement – some demoralization, some doubt, along with other feelings. What helps me through is always the same thing. As we know from research, but even more from experience, relationships make all the difference. They give us meaning and support. Starting with the family is essential – that grounds and supports us. We receive. We give. Of course, family relations can be problematic. That’s why one of our main goals with our patients is to try to help them resolve the obstacles to deep relationships.

Frank E. Yeomans, MD, PhD

Frank E. Yeomans, MD, PhD, is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University. He is a Senior Consultant in and teaches internationally for the Personality Disorders Institute, and is in private practice in White Plains and New York City.

Author’s Website

In 2024, we began the year with a review of our society’s overall health. You can read the report in this article. This year, the Public Relations and Communications Committee has decided to make monitoring the well-being of our society an annual tradition. In doing so, we hope to inspire all members to actively support the growth and sustainability of our community.

Like we have expressed many times before in different formats, we treat the ISTFP as a living entity that can prosper or dwindle over time. Again this year we will explore the picture given by the data from 10 arbitrarily determined health markers. It will help us answer three essential question:

Where do we thrive?

Where do we struggle?

How can we nurture our community?

Mathieu Norton-Poulin, M.Ps.

Mathieu Norton-Poulin is a psychologist in private practice in Gatineau, Québec. He graduated from Laval University in 1995 and started his training in transference focused psychotherapy in 2005. Member of the TFP-Québec group he as been practicing has a certified TFP therapist for the last 9 years. Since 2009 he organized several training events and has given lectures on TFP for medical doctors and college students. He maintains a blog where he write, in plain words, articles to explain TFP to the general public.

Read author’s Blog

You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald

Let’s face it, the ISTFP is a community of readers. We crave new insights, expanding our knowledge and refining our know how. Fortunately, we are blessed to have among us many prolific writers that share their unique perspective on our common passion: Transference Focused Psychotherapy. But how do they achieve it? How do they persist in an endeavor that, to most of us, seems like an improbable dream? This is the question we will explore in the following paragraphs.

Richard G. Hersh

Chiara De Panfilis

Our task will be greatly helped by fellow ISTFP member, Richard G. Hersh, who just published, with a Chiara De Panfilis, a book on implementing Transference-Focused Psychotherapy principles in different clinical settings. He had the generosity to agree to an interview where he gave us insights into what was needed for their success.

Mathieu Norton-Poulin, M.Ps.

Mathieu Norton-Poulin is a psychologist in private practice in Gatineau, Québec. He graduated from Laval University in 1995 and started his training in transference focused psychotherapy in 2005. Member of the TFP-Québec group he as been practicing has a certified TFP therapist for the last 9 years. Since 2009 he organized several training events and has given lectures on TFP for medical doctors and college students. He maintains a blog where he write, in plain words, articles to explain TFP to the general public.

Read author’s Blog

Ps. Veronica Steiner

Veronica Steiner Segal is a Chilean clinical psychologist who graduated in 1998. Since her beginnings she has been working with patients with Severe Personality Disorders in different health institutions in her country, and since 2018 she is a certified TFP therapist. In 2019 she obtained her accreditation as a teacher and supervisor. Since the same year she is coordinator of Grupo TFP Chile. She is the Executive Officer for the Board and she collaborates with the T&E Committee. She also teaches at the University of Valparaiso, in the Department of Psychiatry, where she also teaches in the Diploma of Severe Personality Disorders.
She collaborates in different courses looking for the diffusion of TFP. Together with Luis Valenciano and Pepa Gonzalez she directs an important training in TFP for Spanish speaking students, Instituto TFP Hispanoamerica.

TFP Chile WebsitE

“At best, a dialogue about life”

This moving statement concludes Chapter 6, titled ‘Reflections on Supervision,’ from Dr. Kernberg’s book Hatred, Emptiness, and Hope. It had such a profound effect on me that I decided to make it the centrepiece of this article about the relationship between supervisor and supervisee. It sums up how our founding father sees the complex and sometimes complicated human experience. With rigour and sensitivity he tells a story of mutual human growth underlining what can nourish or hinder the process. In this text, I will attempt to summarize his most fundamental ideas on supervision.

Mathieu Norton-Poulin, M.Ps.

Mathieu Norton-Poulin is a psychologist in private practice in Gatineau, Québec. He graduated from Laval University in 1995 and started his training in transference focused psychotherapy in 2005. Member of the TFP-Québec group he as been practicing has a certified TFP therapist for the last 9 years. Since 2009 he organized several training events and has given lectures on TFP for medical doctors and college students. He maintains a blog where he write, in plain words, articles to explain TFP to the general public.

Read author’s Blog

Dear Colleagues,

September 27, 28, and 29, 2024 were very special days for the ISTFP. Our 8th Biennial Conference took place in New York. The experience was evidence of a principle that we emphasize in the practice of TFP: it is important to combine cognition with affect.

Frank E. Yeomans, MD, PhD

Frank E. Yeomans, MD, PhD, is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University. He is a Senior Consultant in and teaches internationally for the Personality Disorders Institute, and is in private practice in White Plains and New York City.

Author’s Website

The excitement to meet brought together around 300 members and affiliates of our community from September 27th to 29th, as we celebrated the eighth international congress of our society, the ISTFP.

The academic program

On the 27th, the events started with three magnificent pre-conferences: Barry Stern and Nestor Kapusta, as discussant, spoke about the Object Relations Model of Couples Therapy; Lina Normandin, Karin Ensink, and Alan Weiner taught us about TFP for Adolescents: Specificities and Family Work; and Luis Valenciano and Irene Sarno spoke about supervision for newly certified TFP supervisors and those interested in becoming TFP supervisors. These workshops had an unprecedented attendance and great participation of the attendees. This preliminary day foreshadowed the climate of exchange and scientific and theoretical discussion that was to come in the next two days. 

On the 28th and 29th we had the privilege of attending lectures by Eve Caligor, Chiara De Panfilis, Emanuele Preti, Agnes Schneider-Heine, Nel Draijer, Karin Ensink, Stephan Doering, special guest David Tuckett who spoke about Knowing What Psychoanalysts Do and Doing What Psychoanalysts Know, and Otto Kernberg. 

In addition, there were seven scientific symposia, five SPECIAL TOPICS SYMPOSIA, and ten posters exhibited. All of this was marked by an increasing breadth of topics and increasing participation of young exhibitors in the TFP community.

Otto Kernberg’s presence was a highlight throughout the event. Not only did he participate as an attendee and contribute his insights during committee meetings on the future of our institution, but he also delivered the final day’s plenary lecture on ‘Alternative Contemporary Views of Psychoanalytic Therapy.’ His words demonstrated his characteristic ability to integrate and provided a vision for our future. The audience paid tribute to him with prolonged applause, filling the auditorium with emotion and gratitude for several minutes.

The research awards

This presentation of research awards was a highlight of the conference, recognizing talent in upcoming TFP researchers. What stood out was the exceptional quality of the submitted works.

The award for recent published research was given to two sets of winners:

1) Kevin Meehan and Nicole Cain for:

Meehan, K. B., Cain, N. M., Roche, M. J., Fertuck, E. A., Sowislo, J. F., & Clarkin, J. F. (2023). Evaluating Change in Transference, Interpersonal Functioning, and Trust Processes in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder: A Single-Case Study Using Ecological Momentary Assessment. Journal of Personality Disorders, 37(5), 490–507. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2023.37.5.490

2) Victor Blüml and Maria Gruber for:

Gruber, M., Alexopoulos, J., Doering, S., Feichtinger, K., Friedrich, F., Klauser, M., … & Blüml, V. (2023). Personality functioning and self-disorders in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis, with first-episode psychosis and with borderline personality disorder. BJPsych Open, 9(5), e150

The event was, in itself, a testimony to how well the TFP research community is developing following the highest academic standards.

Awards were also given for outstanding research presentations at the conference.

The ISTFP Research Committee gave 1 first place award, 1 second place award, and 2 third place awards to:

1) Emilia Soroko for the presentation:

Validity and clinical utility of the Polish version of the Revised Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO-R-PL)

2) Marco Di Sarno for the presentation:

Pathological narcissism, self and other representations, and affect in the patient-therapist relationship: Preliminary data from an experience sampling study

3) Marko Biberdzic for the presentation:

Level of Personality Organization and Development Questionnaire (LPODq 14-21): Investigating the Validity of a Theoretically Informed and Developmentally Sensitive Measure of Personality Pathology in Youth

3) Arianna Sinisi for the presentation:

The contribution of Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) in general adult psychiatry training: improving trainees’ technical confidence and attitude towards people with personality disorder

Choosing our Leaders

The ISTFP convention is always an opportunity to choose hour leaders for the next 2 years. During the member assembly, the members elected the new ISTFP Board. Frank Yeomans was re-elected as President and Stephan Doering was elected as Vice President. He will replace Eve Caligor who provided great service to the ISTFP in that role and will continue on the Board. Victor Blüml was elected the new Treasurer, replacing Melitta Fischer-Kern, who provided the ISTFP with dedicated managing of its finances since the inception of the organization in 2012. Along with the rest of the board, who will continue in their current positions, they have the mission to lead our society into these uncertain times until 2026.  

Exchanging Professional Experiences

The conference offered participants the ability to meet members from around the world who were eager to share their experiences with us. In the spirit of the theme of this Newsletter, here are a few of them regarding training to be a supervisor.

Many described their training as a supervisor in TFP is a transformative growth experience.

Ruth Alcalá Lozano described her training process as “enriching and exciting.” Throughout her journey, she has observed how others manage to apply TFP in complex countertransference situations. Being “the observer of the observer” has required her to broaden her knowledge and maintain a constant practice. She emphasizes that “every clinical experience prepares me to handle future cases better,” highlighting the importance of adapting to the uniqueness of each situation.

Aurora Doll Galardo has increased her interest in microprocesses and the therapist’s attitude. She highlights that “supervision requires structure, the ability to organize something that is initially loaded with emotions.” A significant experience for Aurora occurred while supervising a case in which she decided not to seek out a patient who missed an interview. This moment led her to reflect on the commitment necessary in the therapeutic process.

Pablo Botias Cegarra found the most challenging aspect of training to be staying mindful and calm while teaching and sharing his knowledge with colleagues. “So the whole process was transformative in the sense that it helped me see myself as co-supervisor in supervision, a tutor in teaching classes, and to acknowledge my capacity to help other people to understand TFP better.”

Finally, Silvia Bernardi reflected on her role as a co-supervisor, facing the challenge of helping beginner therapists. She states that “it is easy to understand the patient’s pathology, but it is much more difficult to communicate it and be heard.” The distance that allows her to be a supervisor has been transformative for her practice: “I conceptualize each case much more clearly than when I am in my role as a therapist.”

The Breakfasts and Conference Dinner

As always, there were spaces for the social life of our society, already constituted as a family; there were breakfasts, dinners, and other instances in which the attendees could, beyond the academic, connect and reconnect. We leave you with found memories that were gathered by the Public Relation and Communications Committee.

Unfortunately, three days are always too few for us. We can only wait two years with the hope of meeting in Vienna in 2026.

See you soon! Best wishes, 

Veronica and Diana for the Public Relations and Communication Committee

Ps. Veronica Steiner

Veronica Steiner Segal is a Chilean clinical psychologist who graduated in 1998. Since her beginnings she has been working with patients with Severe Personality Disorders in different health institutions in her country, and since 2018 she is a certified TFP therapist. In 2019 she obtained her accreditation as a teacher and supervisor. Since the same year she is coordinator of Grupo TFP Chile. She is the Executive Officer for the Board and she collaborates with the T&E Committee. She also teaches at the University of Valparaiso, in the Department of Psychiatry, where she also teaches in the Diploma of Severe Personality Disorders.
She collaborates in different courses looking for the diffusion of TFP. Together with Luis Valenciano and Pepa Gonzalez she directs an important training in TFP for Spanish speaking students, Instituto TFP Hispanoamerica.

TFP Chile WebsitE

Diana Téllez Quiroz, PhD

Diana Téllez has been a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist since 2005. She obtained a Master’s in Psychotherapy for Children, Adolescents, and Adults in 2009 and a Doctorate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy from the Mexican Psychoanalytic Association in 2012.

She holds a PhD and Master’s in APM. Certified supervisor, teacher, and therapist in TFP, Circle of Security, and AAI. Psychologist with experience in personality disorders, specializing in MBT and EFT. Member of ISTFP and ISSPD.

Author’s website

The increasing family and community of ISTFP members just met in New York for our 8th Biennial Conference, many in person and some by streaming. We, of course, devoted some activities to the field of teaching and supervision. One of them was the in-person Training and Education Committee meeting on September 27^th, which allowed members of the committee to deepen certain important themes.

During that meeting, the T & E Committee reached the conclusion that our therapists in training are getting more and more consistent with what we may call the macroscopic aspects of supervision.

Let me explain by doing an artificial division in our practice.

Luis Valenciano

Psychiatrist, Executive Officer for the Board of the ISTFP, and currently the Chief Trainee and Supervision Committee member

Luis Valenciano is a physician and psychiatrist, formerly the Executive Officer for the Board of the ISTFP, and currently the Chief Trainee and Supervision Committee member.
After passing the MIR, he trained in Psychiatry at the General Hospital of Murcia under the tutelage of Professor Demetrio Barcia. He specialized in psychotherapy at the Madrid Psychoanalytic Center and Elipsis.
In 2007, he co-founded the first Personality Disorders Program in the Region of Murcia, where he worked until 2021 before dedicating himself to private practice. Since 2006, he has worked with Professor Otto Kernberg in New York and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the ISTFP. From Murcia, he sees patients and supervises therapists internationally, in addition to teaching at various institutions. In recent years, he has also co-founded the Instituto TFP Hispanoamérica with other colleagues.

From the comfortable yet significant confines of his private practice in Andalusia, southern Spain, Sergio Fernández-Miranda has dedicated his professional life to understanding and treating the human mind. His career as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist encompasses extensive experience in the public healthcare system, including five years at a Day Hospital and ten years as a psychiatric residency tutor. Since 2021, he has transitioned to focusing on his private practice

Ps. Veronica Steiner

Veronica Steiner Segal is a Chilean clinical psychologist who graduated in 1998. Since her beginnings she has been working with patients with Severe Personality Disorders in different health institutions in her country, and since 2018 she is a certified TFP therapist. In 2019 she obtained her accreditation as a teacher and supervisor. Since the same year she is coordinator of Grupo TFP Chile. She is the Executive Officer for the Board and she collaborates with the T&E Committee. She also teaches at the University of Valparaiso, in the Department of Psychiatry, where she also teaches in the Diploma of Severe Personality Disorders.
She collaborates in different courses looking for the diffusion of TFP. Together with Luis Valenciano and Pepa Gonzalez she directs an important training in TFP for Spanish speaking students, Instituto TFP Hispanoamerica.

TFP Chile WebsitE