Published: March 2025

Keywords:
Ivan Boszormenyi Nagy, Loyalty, Context, Contextual Therapy, Psychoanalysis, Martin Buber, I and Thou, Family Therapy

Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy

Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy (1920–2007) was a Hungarian-American psychiatrist and one of the founders of the field of family therapy.

Boszormenyi-Nagy is best known for developing the Contextual approach to family therapy and individual psychotherapy. It is a comprehensive model which integrates individual psychological, interpersonal, existential, systemic, and intergenerational dimensions of individual and family life and development (Wikipedia).

Abstract

A video made by the Organising Committee of the SEVE Conference, as an introduction to the conference, honours the creator of Contextual Therapy, Ivan Boszormenyi Nagy. A dialogue between the Organising Committee’s members commenting on the beginnings of Family Therapy, the new and old inspiring ideas and practices is enriched by video excerpts from:

• The bridge between: Contextual Therapy and its Founder Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhfzKnDQ6s (Thank you, Janet Staufer, for such a concise and thoughtful narration!)

and

• I would Like To Call You Mother, featuring Master Therapist Ivan Boszormenyi Nagy www.aamft.org/AAMFT/Foundation/Participate/Master_Series.aspx.

Ivan’s story and route from psychoanalysis to family therapy and his central ideas are briefly described, and a short video clip from a family session shows his unique and not-so-old-fashioned style.

Text / Voices: Sofia Azalea, Despoina Drivakou, Eirini Kipritsi, Olga Konstantinou, Kyriaki Milousi, Frosso Moureli, Fany Triantafillou, Tania Zarzoula.

Video Composition / Construction / Subtitling: Fany Triantafillou