Panel Presentation:
• Prejudice and Moral Polarization in Groups and Society. Psychoanalytic and Group Perspectives.
Panelists: Stavros Charalambides, Uri Levin, Avi Berman & Haim Weinberg
(120 min)
Abstract:
This panel explores how prejudice and moral polarization emerge, solidify and are reproduced within groups and societies, particularly under conditions of collective trauma, social fragmentation and heightened moral certainty. Bringing together psychoanalytic, group analytic and psychohistorical perspectives, the panel examines how moral polarization functions not only as an ideological stance but as an unconscious group process that organizes belonging, exclusion and hatred.
Haim Weinberg approaches antisemitism as a paradigmatic example of unconscious social processes operating across historical and cultural contexts. Through a psychohistorical lens, antisemitism is examined as a recurring group level defense shaped by projection, splitting and scapegoating. Jews are positioned as symbolic containers for anxieties related to identity, power, morality and change, with these dynamics transmitted across generations through the social unconscious. This contribution highlights how moral polarization is sustained historically by unconscious group mechanisms rather than solely by political ideology.
Avi Berman focuses on the affective experience of otherness in contemporary polarized societies. Otherness is conceptualized as an emotionally charged encounter that frequently becomes unbearable, evoking anxiety, shame, envy and aggression. When difference threatens established identities or moral certainties, groups may respond through exclusion, dehumanization or the conversion of difference into hatred. Drawing on group analytic and relational psychoanalytic perspectives, this presentation explores how the Other becomes a carrier of unwanted affects, allowing groups to preserve cohesion at the cost of empathy and complexity. Group therapy is proposed as a semi-safe social microcosm where differences can be encountered, symbolized and partially tolerated.
Uri Levin examines moral polarization through the deep psychological structure of the “Us and Them” division. Using object relations and intersubjective theory, alongside empirical material from social psychology and political simulations, he demonstrates how binary categorizations are automatically activated when groups encounter ambiguity or threat. These divisions function defensively by protecting against chaos and identity loss, and developmentally by organizing separation processes. Ideology is understood as a justification of these underlying structures. The role of third-party consultants is emphasized as crucial in transforming persecutory enemies into relational adversaries capable of dialogue.
Stavros Charalambides brings clinical material from international online large groups convened after October 7, 2023, involving mental health professionals from diverse cultural contexts. His analysis illustrates how prejudice and moral polarization unfold in real time within professional communities committed to dialogue. Using concepts from group analysis, relational psychoanalysis and the social unconscious, he explores oscillations between idealization and hostility, rupture and attempted repair, and the emergence of conditional empathy, particularly toward Jewish and Israeli participants. These dynamics are framed as failures of collective mourning and institutional literacy, alongside fragile efforts toward co-creation and symbolic repair.
Together, the panel argues that moral polarization emerges when groups lose the capacity to tolerate ambivalence and complexity. Prejudice and hatred function as substitutes for thinking, enabling groups to preserve coherence at the cost of relational and ethical depth. By integrating historical analysis, theoretical models and clinical experience, the panel offers psychoanalytic tools for understanding how polarization is sustained and how limited but vital conditions for reflection and containment may still be cultivated within groups and societies.
Keywords: antisemitism, collective trauma, group analysis, moral polarization, prejudice, psychohistory, scapegoating, social unconscious
Panel Presentation 1:
Antisemitism and Unconscious Social Processes. Historical and Cultural Perspectives
By Haim Weinberg
Abstract:
This presentation approaches antisemitism not only as a political or ideological phenomenon but as a manifestation of unconscious social processes operating across historical and cultural contexts. Using a psychohistorical lens, it examines how collective anxieties, projection, splitting and scapegoating shape recurring antisemitic narratives. Drawing on examples from different historical periods and cultural settings, Jews are explored as symbolic containers for social fears related to identity, power, morality and change. Particular attention is given to the transmission of these dynamics across generations through the social unconscious. Conceptualizing antisemitism as a group level psychological process allows for deeper historical understanding and offers directions for contemporary interventions aimed at disrupting its persistence.
Keywords: antisemitism, collective anxiety, projection, psychohistory, scapegoating, social unconscious, splitting, transgenerational transmission
Short Bio:
Dr. Weinberg is a licensed psychologist in California & Israel, with more than 40 years of experience. He is a group analyst and Certified Group Psychotherapist. He is past President of the Israeli Association of Group Psychotherapy and the Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society. Dr. Weinberg was the Academic Vice President of the Professional School of Psychology, where he created and coordinates an online doctoral program in group psychotherapy and marital therapy. He is a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association and of the International Group Psychotherapy Association, as well as a Distinguished Fellow of the Israeli Group Psychotherapy Association. He has received several awards, including the Harold Bernard Group Psychotherapy Training Award, the Ann Alonso Award for Excellence in Psychodynamic Group Therapy and the Bob Klein Award for Social Responsibility. Dr. Weinberg published 10 books, 24 book chapters and 55 articles. His books were translated in China, Japan, Romania, South Korea, Czech Republic, and Israel.
Dr. Weinberg developed group therapy training groups in Asia and is leading online training process groups for therapists around the world. He can be reached at .
Panel Presentation 2:
The Unbearable Experience of Otherness and the Possible Contribution of Group Therapy
By Avi Berman
Abstract:
This presentation examines otherness as a central psychic and social challenge in societies marked by polarization, violence and moral absolutism. Otherness is understood not simply as difference but as an affectively charged encounter that often becomes unbearable, evoking anxiety, shame, envy and aggression. When difference threatens established identities or moral certainty, groups may respond through exclusion, dehumanization or the transformation of difference into hatred. Drawing on group analytic and relational psychoanalytic perspectives, the presentation explores how the Other becomes a carrier of unwanted affects, preserving group cohesion at the cost of empathy and complexity. Group therapy is then proposed as a semi safe space where otherness can be encountered, symbolized and partially tolerated rather than eliminated.
Keywords: dehumanization, empathy, group therapy, hatred, otherness, polarization, psychohistory, relational psychoanalysis
Short Bio:
Avi Berman, Ph. D. is a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, training analyst and a group analyst. He is a member in Tel- Aviv Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and The Israeli Institute of Group Analysis. He is the initiator and co-founder of the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis and its first chairperson. He was the head of group psychotherapy track in Tel Aviv University’s psychotherapy program, 2014-2024. He is a co-author of Victimhood, Vengefulness, and the Culture of Forgiveness (Together with Ivan Urlic and Miriam Berger). He is a co-editor of Sibling Relations and the Horizontal Axis in Theory and Practice: Contemporary Group Analysis, Psychoanalysis and Organization Consultancy (Routledge, 2022) together with Smadar Ashuach and co-editor of “Tolerance – a concept in crisis” (Routledge, in print) together with Gila Ofer. He can be reached at .
Panel Presentation 3:
Us and Them. Understanding the Dynamics of Hate between Groups and Identities
By Uri Levin
Abstract:
This presentation examines the psychological foundations of intergroup hatred through an object relations and intersubjective lens. It proposes that the division into “Us” and “Them” constitutes a deep psychological structure of human social organization. Drawing on theoretical work by Berman, Berger, Gutmann and Ogden, as well as empirical evidence from the Robbers Cave experiment and Israeli political simulations, the presentation demonstrates how groups automatically activate binary categorizations when encountering others, independent of actual material conflict. These divisions function defensively by protecting against chaos and identity loss, and developmentally by facilitating separation processes. The presentation explores how ideology justifies these structures and highlights the role of third-party consultants in transforming persecutory enemies into dialogical adversaries.
Keywords: binary categorization, dialogical adversaries, intergroup hatred, intersubjectivity, object relations, psychohistory, Robbers Cave experiment, Us and Them
Short Bio:
Uri Levin is a clinical psychologist, group analyst, and organizational consultant. He previously served for ten years on the board of the European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (EFPP) and was the chair of its Groups section. He teaches at Tel Aviv University and provides supervision in both individual and group settings in Israel and abroad. He primarily works in his private practice in Tel Aviv, where he sees adults, adolescents, couples, and groups. He can be reached at .
Panel Presentation 4:
Prejudice and Hatred in Contemporary Society. A Group Analytic and Psychohistorical Exploration of Antisemitism, Rupture and Co Creation in Large Groups
By Stavros Charalambides
Abstract: This presentation draws on clinical and theoretical analysis of three international online large groups convened after October 7, 2023, involving mental health professionals from diverse cultural contexts. While antisemitism is central, it is examined within a broader field of prejudice, hatred and ostracism in professional and academic settings. Using concepts from group analysis, relational psychoanalysis and the social unconscious, the presentation explores how hatred is organized through idealization, suspicion, envy and conditional empathy. Clinical material illustrates oscillations between hope and hostility, rupture and attempted repair, and the positioning of Jewish and Israeli participants as objects of projection rather than co-creators of meaning. The presentation emphasizes the fragile but essential possibility of co-creation through sustained containment and reflective facilitation.
Keywords: antisemitism, co-creation, conditional empathy, group analysis, large groups, projection, psychohistory, social unconscious
Short Bio:
Stavros Charalambides (), is a writer, the atricalproducer and playwright, a supervising and training relational psychoanalyst and group psychotherapist. He has been an elected Board Member of the IARPP since 2018, and since February 2024, also serves as an elected Board Member of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). Together with Gila Ofer, he co-chairs the IARPP Special Interest Group on Couples, Families, and Groups. He is the founder and director of the Greek Institute for Relational and Group Psychotherapy (established in 2016), where he has also developed and currently oversees four specialized training programs in relational psychoanalysis and group psychotherapy. Charalambides works extensively with individuals, couples, siblings, small and large groups, and institutional systems. His main clinical and theoretical interests focus on sibling dynamics, envy, mourning and hatred in the transference and countertransference across different analytic and group settings—from the dyad to the multicultural social field. His first individual book, The Envy Executioner, was published in Greek in 2022 (Disigma Publications). His second book, The Enraged Slaves, came out in March 2025 (Disigma Publications). He is the editor of the first second and third collective Greek volumes on Relational Psychoanalysis and Group Dynamics. He can be reached at .