The Institute of Group Analysis is an organization for education in group analysis, group psychotherapy and group therapy of medical nurses and technicians. In addition to educational and professional, it engages also in scientific activity.

It was founded in the year 1988 at Zagreb.

Pursuant to Article 11 of the Law on Associations (Official Gazette “NN” Nos. 70/97 and 106/96), on 20th January 2000, the Assembly of the Institute passed the Articles of Association based on which the Institute was entered into the Register at the competent government body of the Republic of Croatia, as an independent legal person in pursuing and implementing of its objectives, as defined in the Article of Association. The registered office of the Institute is at Zagreb, Republic of Croatia. The abbreviated company name is IGA, and it also operates under its name in English: Institute of Group Analysis.

The Institute holds its annual conference with the theme agreed in advance.

The Institute is a full member of the Union of Psychotherapeutic Associations of Croatia (SPUH), the European Group Analytic Training Institutions Network (E.G.A.T.I.N.), the European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (EFPP), and the International Association for Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes (IAGP).

A brief historical overview

The Institute  of Group Analysis was founded way back in 1988. The development of group analysis began, however, much earlier. Stjepan Betelheim (1898-1970), a neuropsychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and a professor at the School of Medicine of the University of Zagreb, introduced psychotherapy and started training of psychiatrists in psychoanalysis. After entering in contact with S. H. Foulkes, he also started training in group analysis.  In the period between 1953 and 1969, psychotherapy evolved and developed at the Clinic for Psychiatry, and since 1969 at the Centre for Mental Health todayʼs Clinic for Psychological Medicine.

During the said decades a group of group analysts was created, which in 1988 decided it was the time to establish the Institute for Group Analysis (IGA). Until 2012, IGAʼs seat was at the Clinic for Psychological Medicine when it was relocated into rented premises where it still operates as an independent institution.

IGA – Goals and development

The principal task of IGA is education (therapy, supervision, theory).
Since the very beginning, the training in group analysis was very demanding and always conforming to IGA London programme, even before the diploma course (DC) which was carried out in cooperation with IGA London in the period from 1988-1995. Thereafter, there was a build-up in implementation of group analysis not only in Zagreb but also in other centres such as Pula, Rijeka, Split.

The IGA educators are also engaged as educators in group analysis in Slovenia, Italy and other European countries.

IGA monitors the development of its members by organizing a Professional meeting in March every year. Another way to monitor professional activities is the publishing of psychotherapy articles as well as active participation in psychotherapy seminars in the country and abroad. IGA is one of the three associations (Institute of Group Analysis, Croatian Psychoanalytic Society, and Croatian Society for Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy) that relaunched publishing of the journal PSYCHOTHERAPY which was published in continuation from 1970 to 1999. The journal is now again published twice a year.

Ljiljana Moro