Dear Colleague and Friend,

The 10th Anniversary of Imago Relationship Therapy in Israel, under the auspices of the Israeli Association for Marital and Family Therapy and Family Life Education, will be celebrated on July 28-31, 2003. This International Conference dedicated to Imago Theory and Therapy is also a Festival celebrating ten years of outstanding pioneering work by Hedy and Yumi Schleifer in promoting Imago worldwide. The couple’s vision is being realized and in the last ten years they have been active in training hundreds of Imago therapists and enriching the lives of thousands of couples in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa and especially Israel, who have attended their exciting couples workshops.

The founder of Imago: Dr. Harville Hendrix, author of the book: “Getting the Love You Want” says our essence is in being connected. We live our lives in connection. The Imago school emphasizes that a committed relationship (marriage) is a developmental journey of mutual healing. The conflictual power struggle and the hurt that are experienced in the relationship are transformed in the context of a mutual healing process. The conscious managing of the ‘space in-between’ becomes a vital source of safety, love and passion.

The Imago approach encompasses concepts from various psychological schools such as object-relations, current models of the intra-subjective, Gestalt, and behavioral-cognitive aspects. These are all integrated and molded into an exciting therapeutic approach that in effect constitutes a new paradigm of partnership, of managing the relational space – “space in-between”.

Hedy and Yumi Schleifer have adeptly taught and applied Imago with joy and wisdom. In their honor, Dr. Harville Hendrix and his partner and wife, Helen LaKelly Hunt, the Imago visionaries, will be participating in the conference. Further, leading, creative exponents of Imago from around the world will be sharing their work and knowledge at the conference.

This gathering therefore becomes a rare opportunity for meeting both for presenters and participants. This conference is two days long, preceded by two-day pre-conference workshops. It has a modular structure that does not require prior knowledge of Imago. On the other hand it does give the practitioners of Imago a broad view of current practice. The meeting is open to mental health professionals including psychologists, social workers, educational counselors, family therapists, and mediators and is also open to graduates of previous couples workshops. The general public keen to learn and experience Imago is invited to attend a public lecture by Dr. Hendrix.

The Conference will be held in the Kibbutz Shefayim Resort and Conference Hotel, which is only a 20-minute drive from the city of Tel-Aviv. Its beautiful location overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and its lush gardens and lawns contribute to a very peaceful setting. The hotel features large spacious rooms set in three different buildings, plus - a restaurant, a dairy café and a water park.

We look forward to an exciting and enriching event.

The Organizing Committee