EFTA-RELATES 202527-30 AUGUST 2025LYON, FRANCE

Relationships between people families, work teams, communities and nations have all undergone major changes in recent decades. Multiple influences, including cultural and scientific evolution are all central to the context of systemic thinking and therapy.   

Disciplines such as physics, medicine, psychology, environmental and social sciences have made decisive contributions to the advancement of our knowledge. Distant galaxies have come closer due to our increased knowledge of the cosmos, and our probes and rockets are reaching towards the farthest edges of space-time. On the other hand, violence and barbarism destroy lives, property, and certainties on a daily basis, sparking vicious and often deadly clashes between individuals, communities, nations, and cultures. 

In spite of these challenging realities, systemic therapists and practitioners are compelled to pursue their commitment to healing the resulting psychic and relational suffering and, above all, to rekindle hope, resilience and optimism for a better future. 

The EFTA-RELATES 2025 Congress, in collaboration with the DIPHE research laboratory of the University of Lyon 2 aims to be a place of possibilities, challenging indifference and isolation. It will bring together hundreds of professionals, centres, and bodies within the European Family Therapy Association and the Red Europea y Latinoamericana de Escuelas Sistémicas, all committed to the mission of promoting the health of groups, institutions, families, couples and individuals. 

The aim of this Congress is to share systemic knowledge - whether through confluences or controversies - we will share, discuss and seek resonances on differences that make a difference. The important goal will be to combine the theoretical foundations of the systemic approach with the diversity and plurality of people and clinical practices, all enriched by research data.

This fruitful gathering will take place on August 27, 28, 29 and 30, in the summer of 2025, in the exquisite city of Lyon, France.

We will explore interactive, artistic and dialogical paths inviting your active participation in the event. 

This conference is about systemic practice in the areas of social and community work, family and couple therapy, psychotherapy and medicine, coaching, supervision and organizational development and societal issues.

Beside important systemic innovations and challenges in systemic practice, theory and research the conference will focus with a resilience and empowerment perspective on societal and relevant topics, such as migration, social justice, trauma, post-covid era, different forms of discrimination (e.g. sexism, racism, classism), political authoritarianism and intra-family violence.