An exchange with Roman Kechur: Preserving thinking during wartime

ABSTRACT In this interview, Dr Roman Kechur discusses the unsurmountable task of the therapist, in the context of the war in Ukraine, to remain open to feelings in order to maintain spontaneity and to preserve thinking so as not to succumb to chaos. He also analyzes the historical forces in presence between Ukraine and Russia which Putin seems to harness to reproduce their historical trauma and how the Ukrainians are struggling to change the scenario and rewrite it by confronting him and his army. Finally, he discusses with Darren Haber the limits to transformative experiences and the chaos occasioned by the growing inability to distinguish fantasy from lies in our political, social and cultural contexts, especially in the war context. Hope lies in the possibility of rewriting memories in the context of a new relationship instead of repeating them. This interview, as well as this whole issue, is aligned with the need to have witnesses to the stories, to find some new meaning. “You’re our doctors here,” concludes Kechur.