Prof. Juan Luis Linares, MD, Lic. Psic.

President of EFTA

Dear Madam, dear Sir,
dear colleagues and friends,

The V European Congress for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice 2004 in Berlin will be for all of us, the Congress President Dr. Kurt Ludewig and the Board of EFTA, a double challenge. On the one side, after a long transitional period, it will provide an occasion for testing the new structure of our association with its three chambers - the Chamber of Individual Members, the Chamber of the National Family Therapy Associations NFTO and the Chamber of Training Institutes - and its rather complex organisation. On the other side, this congress will be the first to be held in central Northern Europe, far from the Latin-Mediterranean birthplace of EFTA and in a country like Germany that has a very solid systemic tradition of its own. I am sure that the "chemistry" will work, making possible a deep understanding between the renewed EFTA, participants of all of Europe and of the German systemic community in a fascinating scenary open to all sides and particularly to the former Eastern European countries.

I wish to share the privilege of meeting in such an event with as many family therapists as possible, from Europe and from the whole world, as well as with psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers and other professionals who are interested in the new developments of the systemic field.

Come to Berlin and enjoy our fifth congress!

Juan Luis Linares

Dr. phil. Kurt Ludewig

Congress President

Dear Madam, dear Sir,
dear colleagues and friends,

We are proud to announce the V European Congress for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice of the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA). It will bring together specialized participants from all over Europe coming from science, medicine (psychiatry, psychosomatics, psychotherapy), psychology (clinical psychology, psychological psychotherapy) and related fields such as paedagogics, sociology, organisational counseling etc.. The congress "Creating Futures. Systemic Dialogues across Europe" will provide an overview of the actual state-of-the-arts as well as of the future developments occurring in some of the problem areas of human interaction to which Systemic Thinking provides helpful answers and solutions.

The organisers are the two German associations for systemic research, therapy, counselling and supervision, the German Society for Systemic Therapy and Family Therapy (DGSF) and the Systemic Society (SG) - German Association for Systemic Research, Therapy, Supervision and Counselling.

In the name of the local organizing committee I am glad to invite you to participate in this major event of our field, and I look forward to welcoming you at the V EFTA Congress 2004 at the Internationales Congress Centre ICC Berlin.

Dr. phil. Kurt Ludewig

Klaus Wowereit

Governing Mayor of Berlin

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The European Family Therapy Association is devoted to an important topic. Psychological illnesses are on the rise in our fast-paced world, but professional care can help many.  Systemic therapy is based on the recognition that those affected must be viewed not only as individuals, but within the context of their social environment.
As part of this endeavor, the European Congress for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice is a key forum for discussions between specialists working in this field.  I am delighted that Berlin has been chosen as the venue for this year’s congress, following successful congresses held in other European cities.
In 2004, Berlin is the right place for a congress whose theme is “Creating Futures – Systemic Dialogues across Europe,” since 2004 is the year of the European Union’s enlargement to the east.  This enlargement will move Berlin from the periphery to the heart of a united Europe and makes the city an ideal location for a dialogue between systemic therapy specialists from all over Europe.
Moreover, Berlin is very well prepared to host large international congresses and trade fairs.  The International Congress Center (ICC) and Messe Berlin offer excellently equipped premises for concentrated professional interaction, and Berlin’s hotels and restaurants offer inviting opportunities for culinary exploration.
With this in mind, I would like to wish all those taking part in the 5th European Congress of the European Family Therapy Association a stimulating exchange of ideas and experience and a very pleasant stay in Berlin.  After all, anyone attending a congress on the banks of the Spree should not forget to also take a look around our exciting city.

Klaus Wowereit

Helga Kühn-Mengel MdB

Federal Government Commissioner for Patients' Affairs

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased that the V European Congress of the European Family Therapy Association is taking place this year for the first time in Berlin, and I am especially glad to be in a position to welcome you. As the Commissioner of the Federal Government for Patients’ Affairs - a position existing in Germany first since 1st January 2004 - it is one of my main duties to take care that the vested rights of the patients to clear information and instruction are properly implemented in the course of medical decision processes.
The significance of psychological treatment has immensely increased in the last decades. There is no doubt any more about the efficiency and necessity of psychotherapy for the treatment of a number of psychic and somatic illnesses. The consequence has been to include psychotherapeutic care as an element of the basic medical care and thus in the context of the general medical assistance system.
Psychotherapy is a complex domain presently undergoing important changes. The strict differentiation between the psychotherapy schools withdraws more and more to the background making space for new perspectives and discussions. This becomes noticeable, for example, in the search for common factors of efficiency shared by the different approaches as well as in the increasing importance of particular treatment modalities directed at specific disorders.
In the practice of psychotherapy the systemic family therapy approach enjoys an acknowledged value beginning from an understanding of the family as a social system in which psychic disorders are not only regarded and solved on an individual basis but also on the level of complex relational networks.
Systemic therapy has developed itself beyond the frame of family therapy. The wide spectrum of topics to be discussed during the four days of the congress underlines this as impressively as it does the wide variety of professions participating in it.
„Creating Futures“ - that is, the shaping of the future through bringing forth new and viable solutions to the present challenges is one of the central tasks to be undertaken not only by the psychotherapeutic specialty but also by the whole of the health system.
I wish the congress organisers a successful event and all participants, exciting and fruitful discussions.

Helga Kühn-Mengel MdB

Dipl.-Psych. Detlev Kommer

President of the German Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists

Dear members of the organising associations,

Dear participants, dear colleagues,


it is with great pleasure that I am availing of this opportunity to send you the greetings of the Board of the German Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists for the forthcoming 5. European Congress of the European Family Therapy Association from 29th September – 2nd October 2004 in Berlin. A particularly warm welcome is extended to all those who will be travelling from abroad to attend.
Although the congress is being held by the „systemic family” it is nevertheless an important event for the entire psychotherapeutic community. Just as systems theory and information theory belong to the core concepts of psychological theorizing and research, systemic thinking and systemically inspired therapeutic practice, with their heuristic power and creativity, have borne fruit beyond the realms of family therapy and systemic therapy.
We wish the congress to be a forum for constructive discussion and to stimulate thinking beyond the narrow confines of individual disciplines and schools. Furthermore we hope that it will demonstrate the advances made towards an empirically supported knowledge base in psychotherapy.
We are confident that the congress will stimulate the conceptualisation and reflection of the therapeutic work of the participants by providing the benefits of scientifically grounded and clinically proven therapy strategies.

On this note we wish you a very enjoyable and professionally rewarding experience


Detlev Kommer

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. J.-D. Hoppe
President of the German Medical Association and of the German Medical Assembly

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In recent months, the law on the modernisation of advanced vocational training has profoundly marked the debate on policies for the medical professions. Curing professions now have the statutory duty to undertake advanced vocational training. For us, however, this is and has always been part of our professional occupation and therefore has long since been anchored in the professional rules for medical doctors. Your congress, now held for the fifth time, illustrates that very impressively. It is very pleasing to see that in these turbulent times, curing professions are not drifting apart from each other, but instead show a high extent of solidarity.
Particularly in connection with further training, there has been a very intensive exchange of thoughts between the Bundesärztekammer (German Medical Association) and the Bundestherapeutenkammer (Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists/German therapist´s association), leading to a mutual recognition of measures of further training.
Your congress does not only show this spirit of cooperation with the help of an impressive range of interdisciplinary presenters and participants, but is also a convincing example for the fact that further medical training goes beyond national borders. I am sure that such an international exchange of information will lead to many fruitful discussions which will hopefully result in helpful insights for the participants and an increased level of well-being for patients.
In this spirit, I hope you will enjoy a successful conference and stimulating conversations.

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. J.-D. Hoppe

President of the German Medical Association and of the German Medical Assembly

Dipl.-Psych. Uwe Wetter

Vice President of the Association of German Professional Psychologists BDP e.V.

Dear Ladies and Gentleman,
dear Colleagues,

the Systemic Therapy which was developed out of Family Therapy is today omnipresent in counseling and psychotherapy. Its efficiency in theory and practice is widely recognized in the areas of supervision and coaching and it enjoys growing acceptance in the field of psychotherapy. The Association of German Professional Psychologists (BDP) speaks up for the recognition of all efficient and scientific methods within the frame of psychotherapeutic activities. We keep to the well-founded hope that the Systemic and Family Therapy can and will gain recognition in the near future from the part of the Chambers of Psychotherapists.
Since your field of work is mainly interdisciplinary oriented Systemic/Family Therapy cannot be exclusively demanded for the psychotherapeutical domain as it is the case within mono-disciplinary fields. But exactly here may lie a large chance to widen our rather narrow professional perspective while following attentively the fruitful developments of your discipline.
In the name of the Board of the Association of German Professional Psychologists I would like to bring to you our best wishes for your European Conference and to reassure to you the continuation of our constructive and critical dialogue.

Uwe Wetter