IstGA (Istanbul Group Analysis Association)

Psychoanalytic group therapy (group analysis) began with the original work of Siegmund Heinrich Foulkes and Wilfred Ruprecht Bion in the 1940s. While it is a treatment method that draws primarily on psychoanalytic theory, it is also compatible with, and integrates well into, other psychotherapy approaches. It was designed to allow intensive, in-depth work, and it aims to help individuals encounter their inner world and understand how that world relates to others.

Today, training in group analysis is offered in many countries and new group analysts are trained every year. In Türkiye, psychoanalytic group therapists are trained for the first time under the umbrella of the Istanbul-based Istanbul Group Analysis Association (IstGA), in collaboration with the IIGA (Israel Institute of Group Analysis), the EFPP (European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy), the GASI (Group Analytic Society International) and EGATIN (European Group Analytic Training Institutions Network).

Membership of EGATIN has opened the way for psychoanalytic group psychotherapists to be trained in Türkiye, because functions such as training, certification and supervision of group analysts are coordinated by EGATIN worldwide. IstGA, accepted as a member of EGATIN in the 2021–2022 term, has therefore made major progress. From now on, this long-established psychoanalytic treatment method, which is developing rapidly around the world with a growing number of practitioners, has taken root in Türkiye as well.