Our relationships function like channels, allowing turbulent or murky waters of emotion to flow, preventing internal stagnation. A secure bond arises when a relationship with another person is grounded in trust. The first years of life are crucial here, as we learn to trust through our connection with a mother or another significant caregiver. If we succeed in forming these connections, we gain a powerful tool for coping with difficult experiences.

But what happens when this does not occur? When, as children seeking connection, we reach out to adults who are in some way absent or incapable of responding to that need, we learn that there is no one on the other side, that trust is unsafe, and that we must cope on our own.

As Katarzyna Rejniak, psychotherapist and author of Nieobecność. Uzależnienia w kulturze kryzysu przynależności (Absence: Addiction in the Culture of Belonging Crisis), observes: “Addiction arises from alienation, develops in alienation, and alienates us”. When, in times of crisis, we turn to substances instead of another human being, we forgo the slow, gentle process of growth and healing within relationships. Seeing substances as a quick fix for our difficulties, we pay a high cost; it is a state of self-exploitation, self-abuse, and self-exhaustion.

Paweł Błęcki is a visual artist whose practice relates to the concept of “detoxifying relationships”. His key focus is toxic masculinity, a position built on strength and aggression that impedes positive change in caring for both personal well-being and the well-being of society at large, with repercussions for human health, nature, ecosystems, political systems, and states. Detoxifying relationships by highlighting models of social cohesion and moving away from the violent archetype of the unvanquished male is a path toward positive social transformation, including ecological change, as aggressive exploitation exacts a heavy toll on nature.

Using the intersection of art and psychotherapy, we will collectively explore whether it is possible to detoxify relationships, masculinity, and culture. The guiding question of our session echoes a passage from Rejniak’s book: “What are we searching for in this world, and why are we unable to recognise one another as beings capable of supporting, nurturing, exchanging attention, helping one another, and following a path of harmonious growth (…)?”

participants: Paweł Błęcki, Katarzyna Rejniak

moderator: Kinga Mistrzak

Katarzyna Rejniak – certified Gestalt psychotherapist (EAGT, EAP certificate), certified specialist in addictions psychotherapy (PARPA certificate), educator, a trainee supervisor in addiction psychotherapy under the Council of Supervisors of Addiction Psychotherapy and a Gestalt psychotherapy supervision trainee at the Carmen Vazquez-Bandin School of Supervisors. She has worked as a therapist for 15 years and for many years has taught in the training of Gestalt psychotherapists as well as in postgraduate programs on addictions at the University of the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities. She maintains a private psychotherapy practice, seeking paths to awareness and belonging for herself and those she accompanies.

Paweł Błęcki – visual artist, creator of objects and installations, photographer, and initiator and organiser of participatory projects. Academic teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. Graduate of the Doctoral School at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, Intermedia at the University of the Arts Poznań, and Photography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. He also studied Archaeology and Cultural Studies at the University of Gdańsk and Photography at the FAMU Film School in Prague. His artistic practice engages with psychoeducation, mental well-being, and psychology, as well as issues of shared care, ecology, sociology, and politics. He is a co-creator of the artistic-research group Biuro Wspólnej Aktywności, promoting good practices in art accessibility and production, and co-founder of the art collective Wspólnota Międzygatunkowa+, focused on nature conservation. His works have been shown at CSW Łaźnia in Gdańsk, BWA Wrocław, BWA Zielona Góra, CSW Kronika in Bytom, the Gdańsk City Gallery, the Centre for Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, Muzeum Sztuki Łódź, as well as at the Narracje and Survival Festivals.

Kinga Mistrzak – cultural animator, educator, and psychotherapist in training at the Wielkopolska Gestalt School of Psychotherapy; a practitioner of the Internal Family System (IFS). She holds degrees in Cognitive Science (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań) and Intermedia (Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts, Poznań). She implements social projects and programs at the Arsenał Municipal Gallery.

graphic: Paweł Błęcki