HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHOANALY TIC KINDERGARTENS OF THE BERLIN-SCHOOL-OF-DYNAMIC-PSYCHIATRY

The authors describe the origin and development of the psychoanalytica l kindergartens in the German-Group-Psychotherapic-Association (DGG): Originally the psychoanalytic kindergarten was established because par ents, co-workers and patients needed someone to take care of their chi ldren while they were working or in therapy. Also they wished to avoid a discrepancy between the children's kindergarten world and their own familiar surroundings. The psychoanalytic kindergartens, are integrat ed into a group-dynamic, socially energetic network i.e., the Treatmen t Spectrum of Dynamic Psychiatry, which also encompasses the Training and Research Institutes, clinics, work- and study groups and therapeut ic living community. The central focus of its preventive work, is the concept of the human being, which was explicitly formulated by Gunter Ammon. This concept forms the basis of the psychoanalytical pedagogy. According to this concept, the human being is seen as being entirely m ulti-dimensional through his/her needs, interests, capabilities and sk ills. The human being is seen as being a creature of relationships who se identity is rooted therein and is constantly developing. The human being's sense of identity rests on his/her relationship to the group. Therefore, according to the authors, the group and the group dynamics, which evolve from it are extremely significant in relation to the dev elopment of the individual human;identity. This must be carefully hand led by the educators of the children's groups and by the psychoanalyti cally trained leaders of the parents' groups. Likewise the educators a re supervised by a psychoanalyser. In the opinion of the authors the c onnection of the kindergarten with the institut enlarges the work in t he individual group-dynamics fields. For example, a dynamic, wh;ch app ears in the children's group, can also appear like in a mirror in the parents' group and consequently be interpreted. Conflicts which occur in the parents' group can be identified by the supervising control gro up and subsequently worked through. However, the psychoanalytical kind ergartens do nor solely work in a preventive sense, but also directly influence the theory and practice of Dynamic Psychiatry through new di scoveries and results. Reverse, developments in Dynamic Psychiatry inf luence the work in psychoanalytic kindergartens. Terms of admission to the psychoanalytic kindergarten include clarification of the parents' motivation during several interviews. The significance of parentwork and parent-evenings (which take place every fortnight) is explained in detail to the parents. Also the authors describe how the psychoanalyt ic kindergarten in Munich is structured and its essential traits. The kindergarten was established in 1976, and consists of two groups of ch ildren of mixed ages, each of which is taken care of by an educator an d a children's nurse or a person in practical training. The authors ex plain the evolution of the group-formation process, and how the group' s limit becomes established. This provides the children with a protect ive atmosphere in which they can feel free to experience themselves an d experiment. A ten-day trip with the children takes place at the end of a kindergarten's and shows whether or not sufficient trust has deve loped during the year, whereby trust is the obivious criteria for all concerned. The ten-day trip for the children also provides information about their developmental stage. In summary, the authors understand t he psychoanalytic kindergarten to be a particular field of research fo r the area of prevention and sound development as well as for group re search. Since psychogenetic and groupdynamic processes can be directly observed and ascertained in their effects, developments can be preven ted and the family can be extended and changed. This is the main objec tive of the psychoanalytic kindergartens.