Impressions from A Romanian–Serbian Conference
"The Iron Gate Project – Building Bridges Between Cultures and Professionals in Psychotherapy"
By Guy Perel, PhD, President, IIJP, Israel, Liaison Person for Romania
Kladovo, September 18–20, 2026
“The Iron Gate” is one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in Europe. It was built through
cooperation between Romania and Serbia, directly on the border between the two countries. The
power station transforms the flow of the river Danube into energy, while the dam constructed for
its operation also serves as a bridge connecting the two countries. Thus, what blocks and
separates becomes what transforms and connects. The description of the power station is also
highly fitting as a description of this unique three-day conference held in Kladovo, the Serbian
town situated near the Iron Gate: We transformed strangeness into a potential for growth.
Processes of transformation are often accompanied by loss and trauma, and accordingly, the
creation of the reservoir also came at a price. In the process of constructing the dam, the island of
'Ada Kaleh' was flooded, and its empty houses now lie beneath the waters of the Danube.
Needless to say, this traumatic history was also given a place at the conference.
Before turning to the main contents of the conference, I would like to acknowledge those without
whom it could not have taken place. The conference was organized by a committee composed of
representatives from the Developing Groups of the two countries, and was led with tireless
dedication by two routers: Anca Ghearasămescu (Romania) and Milos Rokic (Serbia). Alongside
them, special mention should be made of the generous contribution of Ursula Daniels,
organization Pax Works and April Barrett from Jung Society of Washington DC.
So what did we actually do there?
In the opening lecture of the conference, I described Jung’s and Neumann’s approaches to
artistic creativity. The main part of the lecture was devoted to illustrating these ideas through a
close reading of two poems – one by a Romanian poet and the other by a Serbian poet. Poetry, I
suggested, is a bridging language since it is not fully subject to Ego consciousness.
Immediately afterwards, Georgije Vuletić (Serbia) gave a workshop entitled: 'Psychotherapy in
the Embrace of Argentine Tango'. In the workshop, we mostly danced with one another, and
little by little Georgije introduced fascinating theoretical integrations between the characteristics
of the therapeutic relationship and the interpersonal communication required between leader and
follower in tango. Right after dinner, the entire group went out to buy wine at the neighborhood
grocery store—long live youth—and from there we continued to sit together in a circle on the
sandy bank of the Danube.
The following morning, the group divided into two parallel workshops. Bojana Stamenković
(Serbia) led a workshop named 'Fairy Tale Enactment Group'. Ioana Kessler (Romania) led a
workshop named 'The Hunter and the Fox Woman – a Fairytale About Me, You and the Gates
Between Us’. While unfortunately, I could take part in only one of them, when my own eyes,
shining with emotion and tears, met the equally shining eyes of those emerging from the other
workshop room, I was reminded that, in the end, all roads lead to Rome, and to the Self.
Later that same morning, two lectures were given, both moving between inner and outer reality.
Ioana Olteanu (Romania) talked about 'The House and Its Ghosts: Cultural Complexes, Ancestral
Memory and the Loss of Symbolic Life'. Ioana explored the ways in which traumatic ruptures in
the concept of home throughout Romanian history, have shaped both the public space in
Romania and the transformation of the house into a symbol representing inner processes related,
among other things, to identity, "homeness", belonging, and repair.
Immediately afterward, Adina Nicu (Romania) talked about 'The Experience of Human
Connection: A Jungian Exploration of Meeting the Other'. Alongside theoretical reflections,
Adina facilitated a discussion that developed through artistic amplifications around the theme of
interpersonal connection – its many layers, its internal conditions, limitations and possibilities.
In the afternoon we travelled to ׳Lepenski Vir׳, an extraordinary prehistoric site on the banks of
the Danube, containing the remains of a village that flourished in the Mesolithic period, dating to
around 6500 BCE. At the end of the visit, I gave a short lecture offering a Jungian perspective on
the findings we had seen, with particular emphasis on the difference between them and the cave
paintings of the Paleolithic period. I suggested that the earlier creations bear characteristics of
greater proximity to an experience of 'Participation Mystique', while the later art increasingly
reflects signs of a growing ego consciousness. By this stage of the visit, the two groups had
already become so closely connected, that at times, for me, as the only person in the group who
does not speak Romanian or Serbian, it was strange to see that some of the group members still
addressed one another in English.
On the morning of the third day, we heard two lectures. Ilinca Balas (Romania), gave a lecture
entitled 'Landscapes of the Feminine Soul From Puella Aeterna to the Queen of the Underworld'.
Based on theory, amplifications, and clinical examples, Ilinca addressed the development of the
female psyche as a process which, among other things, requires separation, integration of the
power of death, and connection to internal masculine power.
The second lecture that morning: 'Crossing Together: A Jungian Exploration of Asking and
Receiving Help', given by Lavinia Țânculescu-Popa (Romania), brought the series of lectures to
a close. Lavinia explored the development of the capacity to ask for help from a variety of
perspectives – from object relations theory to an understanding of asking for help as an important
part of the individuation process: an expression of the recognition that we are not isolated units,
but part of something larger than ourselves.
At the end of the lectures, the conference concluded with a closing workshop. Together, we
created a bridge out of countless images of connection and relationship. The dance, which
appeared at the beginning of the conference as a Tango, returned at its close as a lively,
exuberant dance to the sounds of traditional Serbian music.
This remarkable conference enacted precisely what it sought to explore. It was, in itself, a ritual
of individuation: A genuine encounter between apparent strangers, approached with open hearts
and good intentions, led to an expansion of consciousness beyond the divisions that so often
characterize it.
Guy Perel, PhD
President, IIJP
Liaison Person for Romania