The Field –
Initiative Vienna

The New Lacanian Field Austria was founded in 2009. It is adressed at practicing clinicians, as well as anyone else who is interested in the ethical principles of the work of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. As part of the international Freudian Field and the New Lacanian School (NLS), the New Lacanian Field Austria is able to offer a comprehensive study program with manifold forms of theoretical and practical formation.

Since 2017 our group, together with other groups named Initiative of the New Lacanian School (NLS), is called Neues Lacan'sches Feld - Initiative NLS Wien. It understands itself as a school under construction.

Declaration of Principles 2020

In autumn 2009, analysts whose work is oriented towards the teachings of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan founded Neues Lacan'sche Feld Österreich.

The members of the field set themselves the goal of creating a space in Austria for psychoanalysis and its clinic in the direction of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. They would like to make it possible for interested people to become familiar with psychoanalytic ethics and to create a place for members to deal with theory and clinic, which they can use for their personal formation as analysts. We base this on, among other things, the "Guiding Principles for every psychoanalytic act" written by Éric Laurent in 2004.

The analytical discourse was physically and ethically destroyed in Austria by National Socialism in a way that continues to have an impact today - we want to contribute to its restoration. This task seems important to us in times when those suffering from their symptoms, their body and the discomfort of culture are offered more and more "solutions" that lead to a cessation of speech and subjectivity, that ignore the unconscious, suggest the illusion of non-deficient happiness and aim at a mere adaptation to the social functioning in the sense of the market, thus reducing the human being once again to an object of exchange.

This foundation is an attempt to open up the established forms of psychoanalytic training. Our intention is not so much to administrate secured knowledge, but rather to create space and time for the formation of the unconscious, which can never be controlled.

These principles are an ethical guideline for us in our project, which has no fixed structures that are predetermined from the beginning. These will only emerge later through the joint work in this workshop and will also then undergo a continuous transformation.

These efforts were supported and encouraged in cooperation with the Freudian Field and its help by colleagues from the Freudian Field who worked and still work with us. The VPS (Viennese Psychoanalytic Seminar) founded by Jacques-Alain Miller in 2015, a cooperation between the Freudian Field and the Lacanfeld Austria, was a first step in this direction. Since 2017 our group is an initiative of the New Lacanian School (NLS) and is called New Lacanian Field - Initiative Vienna. We are convinced that there can only be a future for Lacanian psychoanalysis and thus for psychoanalytic ethics in Austria if we are part of an international community that works according to these principles.

We invite those who wish to participate in this project in any way to register.

Avi Rybnicki

Founding Declaration 2009

New Lacanian Field Austria

In the autumn of 2009, the New Lacanian Field Austria was founded by psychoanalysts that follow the teachings of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan in their work.

The members of the field have made it their common goal to create a wide public space for the psychoanalysis and clinic of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan within the Austrian therapeutic and psychoanalytic discourse. They want to create a possibility for those interested of getting to know the psychoanalytic ethics and a space for members to concern themselves with theory and clinic and potentially use it for their own formation as psychoanalysts. - In doing so, we base our efforts on the "Guiding Principes for any Psychoanalytic Act" that were formulated by Éric Laurent in 2004.

The analytic discourse in Austria has been physically destroyed and ethically contaminated by National Socialism in way that has effects until today - we want to make another contribution towards its reestablishment.

This task seems important to us in times in which people that suffer in and of their soul are offered more and more "solutions" that lead to a shutting down of speech and their subjectivity, that ignore the unconscious, suggest the illusion of a happiness free of lack and that have the objective of a mere adaption to a societal functioning in the sense of the market und thus reduce people once more to traded objects.

The founding of this field is the attempt to open the established forms of psychoanalytic formation. We don't entend an administration of certified knowledge but rather more room for the formations of the unconscious that can never be controlled.

These principles are the ethical guidelines for our project, since it does not have any fixed and predetermined structures. These will be created retroactively through our work together in this workshop and will be subject to change even then.

When possible, we would like to promote these efforts in collaboration with other forces already existing in Austria (Neue Wiener Gruppe/Lacan Schule, stuzzicadenti, Lacan-Archiv Bregenz) and similar initiatives of other countries (for example, the Psychoanalytisches Kolleg and the AFP in Germany; The Institute of the Freudian Field / NLS in France; dor-a-GIEP in Isreal), our main focus however lies in emphasizing the clinical field.

We are inviting those who want to take part in this project in any way to inscribe themselves into the field.

Avi Rybnicki
Gerhard Zenaty