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.
