VIENNA - CITY OF PSYCHOANALYSIS tour

10 October is International Day of Psychotherapy, and so we will explore the city from a psychosocial perspective.

The Viennese are known to be melancholy, reserved and grumpy. Eugene is none of these things, and indeed Whoosh runs a campaign for Rebellious Optimism (as did Viktor Frankl - one of our heroes). So we will explore the social design of our city, and if it makes people happy or not. How can a city be simultaneously the most-liveable, and least-friendly?

Which of Freud's ideas still work in 2024? Otto Wagner was also a pioneer in respecting and taking seriously the varied needs of people with neurodivergence at Steinhof. Many of our cultural heroes in Vienna were challenging personalities (Beethoven, Wittgenstein, Schiele, Hedy Lamarr, Falco). Where do the happiest residents live? What effects has the pandemic left on our collective mental health? Are Gen Z really so different, in their motivations and desires? There is a crisis of loneliness, particularly among men, and we look at some elegant solutions to this modern phenomenon.

Listening to the pop music on radio these days shows there is a new openness to revealing your weaknesses and fears, which seems to be helping many young people explore their anxiety and relationships. And of course there are numerous reasons to stay awake at night, from artificial intelligence to climate change, threats to democracy, life becoming more expensive, war in Europe, digital addiction, the rise in parties of intolerance and polarisation of society.

This tour follows our exploration of Freudian Vienna, as part of Vienna Walking Week 2023, and the psychogeography exploration of Gumpendorferstrasse, for Wien Museum in 2019.