I warmly invite you to participate in our 49th Annual Conference, titled Breaking Cycles of Violence: Psychohistorical Perspectives on Individual and Collective Healing. The conference will take place May 29–31, 2026, and will explore the psychological roots of violence as well as pathways toward healing at both individual and collective levels.

I will be presenting on Pathways to Healing Transgenerational Holocaust Trauma. This panel explores the psychological legacy of Holocaust trauma across generations, focusing on the work of Judith Kestenberg, Holocaust child survivors, second-generation survivors, identity formation, testimony, resilience, and pathways toward healing. Helene, Ira and I will examine how psychoanalytic and psychohistorical understanding may help address the enduring impact of collective trauma.

Short Bios:

Eva Fogelman, PhD, is a psychologist, filmmaker, and author specializing in Holocaust survivors, rescuers, and historical trauma.

Ira Brenner, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Sidney Kimmel Medical School and author of numerous works on psychic trauma.

Helene Bass-Wischelhaus, PhD, is President of Child Development Research and co-chair of the International Study of Organized Persecution of Children.

Then, on Sunday May 31 at 9:05am – 11:05 am I will be chairing a panel, Starting Violence Prevention from Birth-Three: Judith Kestenberg’s Nonverbal Approach.

Panelists: Susan Loman, K. Mark Sossin, and Janet Kestenberg Amighi

Bios:

K. Mark Sossin, PhD, is Professor Emeritus/Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Pace University and former Director of the PhD Program in Clinical Psychology, Health Care Emphasis. He is a clinical psychologist; adult, child, and adolescent psychoanalyst; couples and infant-parent psychotherapist; Training Analyst and instructor at the Contemporary Freudian Society; and Clinical Faculty/Supervisor at the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University. He is co-author of The Meaning of Movement: Embodied Developmental, Clinical, and Cultural Perspectives of the Kestenberg Movement Profile and co-editor of Healing After Parent Loss in Childhood and Adolescence and Mothers, Infants and Young Children of September 11, 2001: A Primary Prevention Project. He is Director of the Mind, Movement, Interaction, & Development (MMID) Research Group at Pace, where he pursues research in infancy, nonverbal behavior, applications of the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP), mind-body relations, ASD, trauma transmission, and the psychological impact of the Holocaust and state-sponsored genocide. Dr. Sossin is primarily located in Ontario, NY. He can be reached at kmsossin@gmail.com.

Janet Kestenberg Amighi is an anthropologist who has done research in cooperation with the Zoroastrians of Iran, Balinese of Indonesia, and Mexican mushroom workers in Pennsylvania. Her books include The Meaning of Movement: Embodied Developmental, Clinical and Cultural Perspectives on the KMP (ed.1 &2), with Susan Loman and K. Mark Sossin; The Zoroastrians of Iran: A History of Transformation and Survival, with Bahman Moradian). She can be reached at jkamighi@msn.com.

Susan Loman, M.A., BC-DMT (Ret), NCC, KMP certified analyst, professor emeritus, Dir, MA program in DMT and counseling (1987–2017) Antioch University; ADTA approval committee (2014–16); Co-editor of American Journal of Dance Therapy (2011-2014); AJDT Editorial Board 2014 – present); Chair Education Committee ADTA (1995-1999); The Arts and Psychotherapy Editorial Board (1996-2011). Dance/movement therapist at Judith Kestenberg’s Center (1978-1987); Co-Author of The Meaning of Movement. KMP trainings were conducted in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, China, England, Scotland, South Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States. Director of the KMP committee. Susan Loman received the ADTA lifetime achievement award (2014), and the lifetime achievement award from the European Center for Dance Therapy (2017). She can be reached at sloman@antioch.edu.

What Is This Conference About?

How do we break the cycles of violence — within ourselves, our families, and our societies — that perpetuate suffering across generations? What can psychohistory contribute to understanding and transforming these deep patterns? The 2026 IPhA Annual Conference invites scholars, clinicians, educators, and activists to explore these vital questions from both individual and collective perspectives.

This year’s theme, “Breaking Cycles of Violence: Psychohistorical Perspectives on Individual and Collective Healing,” calls for dialogue between psychology, history, and social practice. Participants are encouraged to examine the roots of violence, the dynamics of trauma, and the possibilities of repair and transformation in a fractured world.

Our program will unfold across three major strands:

1. Understanding Individual and Collective Psychology
   – The study of lives and psychobiographies
   – Living in an age of AI
   – Dealing with trauma and breaking cycles of transgenerational trauma
2. Social Divisions and Identities
   – “Why Wars?”: Overcoming state violence in a dysfunctional world
   – Modern social perversions: human trafficking, scapegoating, groupthink, censorship
   – Generational divides: social and clinical aspects
   – Migration and identity: psychohistorical dynamics of displacement and belonging
3. Pathways to Healing and Transformation
   – Cultural healing, resilience, and positive transformation
   – Social justice, human rights, and nonviolent communication
   – Women and leadership in our changing world

Who We Are

We are clinicians, historians and other scholars from diverse disciplines who seek to understand how history, public affairs, and culture shape and are shaped by individual and group psychology.  The IPhA is open to all who wish to study, teach, and conduct research in psychohistory.