HILFETELEFON SCHWIERIGE GEBURT: 0228 9295 9970

HILFETELEFON SCHWIERIGE GEBURT:
0228 9295 9970

Oxytocin

Annual Conference 2026

38th Annu­al Con­fe­rence of the Inter­na­tio­nal Socie­ty for Pre- and Peri­na­tal Psy­cho­lo­gy and Medi­ci­ne (ISPPM)

Buy your ticket now!

German speaking conference in Stolpen

Welcome to our 2026 Annual Conference

Bon­ding Hor­mo­ne Oxy­to­cin

Bet­ween Oppor­tu­ni­ty for Bon­ding Pro­mo­ti­on and Abu­se as a Birth Inter­ven­ti­on

Oxy­to­cin is a key hor­mo­ne of our neu­ro­tro­pic sys­tem, which signi­fi­cant­ly regu­la­tes and har­mo­ni­zes cen­tral are­as of our social com­pe­tence, our capa­ci­ty for bon­ding and love, sexua­li­ty, pain regu­la­ti­on, and other important bodi­ly func­tions. Oxy­to­cin is a mes­sen­ger of love, hap­pi­ness, bon­ding, clo­sen­ess, and peace. The­re are many reasons to pro­tect this hor­mo­ne.

Howe­ver, oxy­to­cin is also an important hor­mo­ne in the regu­la­ti­on of birth. During the expul­si­on peri­od, it ensu­res a firm mus­cle tone of the ute­ri­ne wall, against which the child can move out. It alle­via­tes the pain of child­birth for the birt­hing per­son, making the other­wi­se unbe­ara­ble tole­ra­ble. After birth, it cau­ses the ute­rus to con­tract, ther­eby pre­ven­ting post­par­tum hemor­rha­ge. It streng­thens the bond bet­ween mother and child and enables breast­fee­ding.

Unfort­u­na­te­ly, the con­trac­tion-pro­mo­ting pro­per­ties of oxy­to­cin have been and con­ti­nue to be misu­s­ed as a birth inter­ven­ti­on to indu­ce labor and acce­le­ra­te the birth pro­cess. In doing so, the high­ly sen­si­ti­ve mecha­nisms of oxy­to­cin release and the risk of down­re­gu­la­ti­on of the recep­tor sys­tem in mother and child have been unde­re­sti­ma­ted, despi­te deca­des of available data – with serious con­se­quen­ces for bon­ding and breast­fee­ding.

The 38th Annu­al Mee­ting of the ISPPM is aimed at all pro­fes­sio­nal groups working in psycho- and body the­ra­py, attach­ment pro­mo­ti­on, and obste­trics. It is enti­re­ly dedi­ca­ted to the diver­se aspects of its use as a bon­ding-pro­mo­ting hor­mo­ne and the misu­se of an important resour­ce for our phy­si­cal, psy­cho­so­cial, and sexu­al health.

The con­fe­rence for­mat deli­bera­te­ly departs from the tra­di­tio­nal ‘lec­tu­re-based con­fe­rence’ model and opens up new edu­ca­tio­nal approa­ches to know­ledge trans­fer, self-awa­re­ness and inter­di­sci­pli­na­ry exch­an­ge. The pro­gram­me alter­na­tes bet­ween short, open-for­mat key­note pre­sen­ta­ti­ons and dis­cus­sion ses­si­ons led by experts – in the tra­di­ti­on of the ‘sym­po­sia’ alre­a­dy com­mon in anci­ent scho­lar­ship – and in-depth expe­ri­en­ti­al lear­ning ele­ments. With this uncon­ven­tio­nal for­mat for an aca­de­mic con­fe­rence, we hope to pro­vi­de all inte­res­ted pro­fes­sio­nal groups with insights and expe­ri­en­ces that do jus­ti­ce to the signi­fi­can­ce of the topic.

Friday, 30.10.2026

Program: Day 1

Fr., 30.10.2026
9.30 – 13.00, Fest­saal
Ope­ning Pro­gram

Mee­ting of the Working Group on Pre­na­tal-Based Psy­cho­the­ra­py and Psy­cho­so­ma­tics (AG-PfPP)

The working group’s orga­ni­s­ing com­mit­tee invi­tes its mem­bers to Stol­pen for a col­le­gi­al exch­an­ge. Psy­cho­the­ra­pists and psy­cho­so­ma­tic spe­cia­lists with exper­ti­se in pre- and peri­na­tal issues are warm­ly wel­co­me as guests. After a long peri­od of online exch­an­ges, we wish to crea­te a space for face-to-face inter­ac­tion to prepa­re tog­e­ther for the con­fe­rence the­me ‘Oxy­to­cin, the bon­ding hor­mo­ne’. The focus here will be on the psy­cho­so­ma­tic and psy­cho­the­ra­peu­tic aspects. Abo­ve all, we wish to address pre‑, peri- and post­na­tal dis­tur­ban­ces in the inter­ac­tion and regu­la­ti­on bet­ween mother and child. We regu­lar­ly encoun­ter the con­se­quen­ces of the­se in later life during the­ra­peu­tic pro­ces­ses. Bon­ding beg­ins as ear­ly as in the womb.

It is important to us to orga­ni­se our mee­tings – in kee­ping with our way of working – in a holi­stic man­ner, enga­ging our minds, hearts and gut. Within this open struc­tu­re, we can – as and when we feel the need – con­tri­bu­te our own ide­as, such as tuning into our bodies, expres­sing images that reso­na­te with us, and dra­wing spon­ta­neous­ly on paper with pens.

Pre­pa­ra­to­ry group:

  • Anto­nia Stulz
  • Hel­ga Fink
  • Mari­ta Klip­pel-Hei­de­krü­ger
  • Regi­na Liedt­ke
  • Vere­na Lauf­fer
  • Vio­la Spat­zier
  • Anja Engel­sing
Fr., 30.10.2026
15.00 – 18.00, Fest­saal
Gene­ral Mee­ting of ISPPM e.V.
Fr., 30.10.2026
19.30 – 21.00, Fest­saal
Ope­ning ses­si­on

Kola Brön­ner, Pre­si­dent of the ISPPM

Sven Hil­de­brandt, Con­fe­rence Pre­si­dent

Ope­ning of the con­fe­rence

Mike Hir­di­na, Mayor of the town of Stol­pen

Wel­co­me mes­sa­ge

Sven Hil­de­brandt, Ful­da, Ger­ma­ny

Intro­duc­to­ry talk:

  • Bon­ding Hor­mo­ne Oxy­to­cin
  • Bet­ween oppor­tu­ni­ties to fos­ter bon­ding
  • and abu­se as a birth inter­ven­ti­on

Oxy­to­cin release 1

Fr., 30.10.2026
21.00, Fest­saal, Klei­ner Saal, Bar
Come tog­e­ther

Saturday, 31.10.2026

Program: Day 2

Sa., 31.10.2026
9.00 – 10.30, Fest­saal
Mor­ning Sym­po­si­um: Sci­en­ti­fic Foun­da­ti­ons

with Sven Hil­de­brandt and Chris­tia­ne Schwarz

Intro­duc­tion

Oxy­to­cin as a key hor­mo­ne for bon­ding and social skills

Phy­sio­lo­gy and Patho­phy­sio­lo­gy of Oxy­to­cin Release

In the first sym­po­si­um of the con­fe­rence, two uni­ver­si­ty lec­tu­r­ers spe­cia­li­sing in obste­trics – a mid­wi­fe and an obste­tri­ci­an – dis­cuss fun­da­men­tal aspects of the phy­sio­lo­gy and patho­phy­sio­lo­gy of neu­ro­tro­pic hor­mo­nes and one of their most important repre­sen­ta­ti­ves, oxy­to­cin. They explain how the­se hor­mo­nes dif­fer from others, par­ti­cu­lar­ly in terms of their pro­duc­tion, release, bio­lo­gi­cal effects and inter­ac­tion with other organ sys­tems. From this, they dedu­ce their out­stan­ding importance for a person’s men­tal and phy­si­cal health. At the same time, they explain why the recep­tor sys­tem is par­ti­cu­lar­ly sus­cep­ti­ble to dis­rup­ti­on, espe­ci­al­ly in the face of over­sti­mu­la­ti­on, and out­line both the oppor­tu­ni­ties and the risks asso­cia­ted with the the­ra­peu­tic use of oxy­to­cin.

Sa., 31.10.2026
10.30 – 11.00
Cof­fee break
Sa., 31.10.2026
11.00 – 11.30, Basalt quar­ry below the cast­le
Oxy­to­cin release 2
Sa., 31.10.2026
11.30 – 13.00, Fest­saal
Luncht­i­me sym­po­si­um: Obste­tric aspects

with Sven Hil­de­brandt, Esther Göbel and Chris­tia­ne Schwarz

The use of syn­the­tic oxy­to­cin during child­birth – a review

Con­se­quen­ces of down­re­gu­la­ti­on of mate­r­nal oxy­to­cin recep­tors: ato­ny, breast­fee­ding dif­fi­cul­ties, attach­ment dif­fi­cul­ties, post­na­tal depres­si­on

Pri­ma­ry and secon­da­ry labour fail­ure – alter­na­ti­ves to the use of syn­the­tic oxy­to­cin

The panel of panel­lists is joi­n­ed by ano­ther expe­ri­en­ced mid­wi­fe. The second sym­po­si­um will focus on the use of syn­the­tic oxy­to­cin in the con­text of labour sup­port. The dis­cus­sion will cent­re on a wide­spread mis­con­cep­ti­on that admi­nis­te­ring syn­the­tic oxy­to­cin can speed up labour. The­re is no dis­pu­te about the gre­at value of oxy­to­cin in the pre­ven­ti­on and tre­at­ment of post­par­tum hae­mor­rha­ge. The situa­ti­on is quite dif­fe­rent when it comes to its use for labour induc­tion. Here, the dis­ad­van­ta­ges cle­ar­ly out­weigh the advan­ta­ges – a fact that is, howe­ver, often over­loo­ked in ever­y­day obste­tric prac­ti­ce. During the sym­po­si­um, alter­na­ti­ves will be pre­sen­ted to coun­ter the cri­ti­cism of cur­rent prac­ti­ce. Deal­ing with weak labour con­trac­tions is one of the major chal­lenges, but also one of the spe­cial oppor­tu­ni­ties, of the mid­wi­fery pro­fes­si­on.

Sa., 31.10.2026
13.00 – 15.00
Lunch break
Sa., 31.10.2026
15.00 – 16.30, Fest­saal
After­noon sym­po­si­um: effects on child­ren

with Sven Hil­de­brandt, Neşe Kara­be­kir and

Hakan Çoker

Effects on the attach­ment beha­viour of new­borns

Pro­mo­ting ear­ly bon­ding in the mate­r­ni­ty set­ting

When syn­the­tic oxy­to­cin is used to indu­ce labour, the doses admi­nis­te­red are so high that a signi­fi­cant amount is trans­fer­red to the baby. As a result, the baby’s recep­tor sys­tem is blo­cked in a simi­lar way to that of the mother, which has serious con­se­quen­ces for bon­ding beha­viour and breast­fee­ding. The body of sci­en­ti­fic evi­dence on this issue is now so exten­si­ve that this pro­blem can no lon­ger be igno­red. During the after­noon sym­po­si­um, experts who have stu­di­ed attach­ment dis­or­ders in new­borns within the field of birth trau­ma­to­lo­gy will take part in a dis­cus­sion.

Sa., 31.10.2026
16.30 – 17.00
Cof­fee break
Sa., 31.10.2026
17.00 – 17.30, Fest­saal
Oxy­to­cin release 3
Sa., 31.10.2026
17.30 – 18.30, Fest­saal
Panel dis­cus­sion

with the panel­lists from the first day

Sa., 31.10.2026
19.30
Gala Evening

din­ner tog­e­ther

Oxy­to­cin Release 4: Tan­go

Sunday, 1.11.2026

Program: Day 3

Su., 01.11.2026
9.00 – 10.30, Fest­saal
Mor­ning Sym­po­si­um: Psy­cho­the­ra­peu­tic Aspects

with Sven Hil­de­brandt, Kola Brön­ner, Kata­lin Var­ga, Gise­la Albrecht and Lud­wig Janus

Intro­duc­tion

Kon­se­quen­zen der Tagung aus psy­cho­the­ra­peu­ti­scher Sicht

Pro­mo­ting bon­ding fol­lo­wing the admi­nis­tra­ti­on of oxy­to­cin during child­birth

Ways of acti­vat­ing the oxy­to­cin sys­tem in a the­ra­peu­tic set­ting

The mor­ning sym­po­si­um is devo­ted enti­re­ly to the impli­ca­ti­ons of the pre­vious day’s dis­cus­sions for work in psy­cho­the­ra­peu­tic prac­ti­ce and other the­ra­peu­tic disci­pli­nes. Until now, far too litt­le atten­ti­on has been paid to such ear­ly roots of poten­ti­al dis­tur­ban­ces in the tre­at­ment of beha­viou­ral and attach­ment dis­or­ders. The panel dis­cus­sion will explo­re ways in which dis­or­ders trig­ge­red by the use of oxy­to­cin during child­birth can be addres­sed the­ra­peu­ti­cal­ly.

Su., 01.11.2026
10.30 – 11.00
Cof­fee break
Su., 01.11.2026
11.00 – 12.30, Fest­saal
Fish­bowl
Su., 01.11.2026
12.30 – 13.30, Burg Stol­pen
Oxy­to­cin release 6

Clo­sing of the con­fe­rence

Workshops

As part of the conference (Inclusive)

30.10.2026 — 10–13:00

Ulrike Fichte

“Love alone is not enough (sometimes)” Promoting early bonding using the example of midwifery

01.11.2026 — 15–18:30

Katalin Orosz, Éva Dániel

“Outer Mother, Inner Mother”

Find out more about the speakers at this year’s annual conference

Speakers

Dipl.-Soz. und HP (Psych.)

Kola Brönner

Pre­si­dent of the ISPPM, prac­ti­ce spe­cia­li­sing in body-ori­en­ted psy­cho­the­ra­py, trau­ma the­ra­py and sys­te­mic con­stel­la­ti­ons at the Inte­gra­ti­ve Health Cent­re Aachen (IGZ).

Prof. Dr. med.

Sven Hildebrandt

Con­fe­rence Pre­si­dent, Pro­fes­sor of Gynae­co­lo­gy and Obste­trics at Ful­da Uni­ver­si­ty of Appli­ed Sci­en­ces, Spe­cia­list in Gynae­co­lo­gy and Obste­trics

Dipl.-Med.

Gisela Albrecht

Spe­cia­list in Gynae­co­lo­gy and Obste­trics, with addi­tio­nal qua­li­fi­ca­ti­on in home­opa­thy, attach­ment ana­lyst

Dr.

Hakan Çoker

Gynae­co­lo­gist and Obste­tri­ci­an, Istan­bul Aca­de­my of Obste­trics

Éva Dániel

Psy­cho­lo­gist, trans­per­so­nal the­ra­pist

Ulrike Fichte

M.Sc. in Mid­wi­fery, M.Sc. in Health­ca­re Manage­ment; Chair of the Ger­man Pro­fes­sio­nal Asso­cia­ti­on of Mid­wi­ves (DFH) and lec­tu­rer in mid­wi­fery within the THK® cur­ri­cu­lum

Esther Göbel

A mid­wi­fe, co-foun­der of the Bühl­au Mid­wi­fery Prac­ti­ce and aut­hor of seve­ral artic­les and publi­ca­ti­ons on obste­trics, she has been dedi­ca­ted to ‘rebirt­hing’ for 15 years

Dr.

Helmut Jäger

Tai­ji ins­truc­tor,
spe­cia­list doc­tor,
sys­te­mic coach

Dr.

Ludwig Janus

Psy­cho­ana­ly­tic psy­cho­the­ra­pist, for­mer Pre­si­dent of the ISPPM, for­mer Pre­si­dent of the Ger­man Socie­ty for Psy­cho­his­to­ri­cal Rese­arch (www.psychohistorie.de). Mem­ber of psy­cho­ana­ly­tic pro­fes­sio­nal bodies (DPG, DGPT) and other pro­fes­sio­nal asso­cia­ti­ons.

Neşe Karabekir

Psy­cho­dra­ma the­ra­pist and trai­ner, peri­na­tal psy­cho­the­ra­pist

Katalin Orosz

Cli­ni­cal psy­cho­lo­gist, trans­per­so­nal the­ra­pist, pro­fes­sio­nal direc­tor of the Khei­ron Cent­re, chair of the board of trus­tees of the Peri­na­tus Foun­da­ti­on

Prof. Dr.

Christiane Schwarz

Mid­wi­fe and medi­cal sci­en­tist, reti­red pro­fes­sor at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Lübeck

Prof.in Dr. sc.

Katalin Varga

Psy­cho­lo­gist, hyp­no­the­ra­pist, Doc­tor of the Hun­ga­ri­an Aca­de­my of Sci­en­ces, Head of the Chair of Affec­ti­ve Psy­cho­lo­gy at the Facul­ty of Edu­ca­ti­on and Psy­cho­lo­gy, ELTE. Per­ma­nent mem­ber of the ELTE Doc­to­ral School of Psy­cho­lo­gy

Buy your ticket now!

We look for­ward to wel­co­ming you to this spe­cial con­fe­rence at the Hotel Gold­ner Löwe in Stol­pen, near Dres­den.

Registration for the 2026 Conference

We cor­di­al­ly invi­te you to the Gene­ral Mee­ting and Annu­al Con­fe­rence from 30 Octo­ber to 1 Novem­ber 2026 at the Hotel Gold­ner Löwe in Stol­pen, near Dres­den.

To cover our cos­ts, we will be char­ging a fee of €290.00 per mem­ber / €345.00 per non-mem­ber (inclu­ding the ban­quet) for par­ti­ci­pa­ti­on.
Stu­dents pay €70.00 as mem­bers and €90.00 as non-mem­bers.
Plea­se note: An ear­ly-boo­king dis­count appli­es to boo­kings made by 15 August 2026 (pay­ment due by 18 August 2026).
Cost of ONLINE PARTICIPATION (stu­dents pay East rates): Friday/Sunday per day/member: €55.00 (West) / €25.00 (East)
Friday/Sunday per day/­Non-mem­ber: €65.00 (West) / €30.00 (East)
Satur­day, per day/member: €70.00 (West) / €40.00 (East)
Satur­day per day/­non-mem­ber: €80.00 (West) / €45.00 (East)

Work­shop fee: €40.00 / stu­dents €20.00

Par­ti­ci­pa­ti­on in the mee­ting of the Working Group on Pre­na­tal-Based Psy­cho­the­ra­py and Psy­cho­so­ma­tics (AG-PfPP) is free of char­ge.

Atten­dance at the gene­ral mee­ting is, of cour­se, free of char­ge.
The cos­ts include a con­fe­rence allo­wan­ce for tea, water, cof­fee, fruit and pastries.
All par­ti­ci­pan­ts can have lunch or din­ner (choice of vege­ta­ri­an or meat-based opti­ons; vegan meals available on request) at the con­fe­rence venue; bin­ding orders must be pla­ced and paid for in cash at the con­fe­rence office by mid-mor­ning at the latest. Die­ta­ry requi­re­ments (plea­se email: info@isppm.ngo) can be accom­mo­da­ted. The gala din­ner will take place on Satur­day evening and is included in the ticket pri­ce.
Once you have regis­tered, we will send you a con­fir­ma­ti­on of regis­tra­ti­on and a pay­ment request.
If you requi­re an invoice, plea­se let us know.
Regis­tra­ti­on is com­ple­te once full pay­ment has been recei­ved in the club’s account.
Gene­ral infor­ma­ti­on
Venue
The Gold­ner Löwe Hotel in Stol­pen, near Dres­den.
Markt 3/4 , 01833 Stol­pen
+49 35973 6498108
Plea­se note: When ente­ring the address, plea­se ensu­re you enter “Markt 3/4” cor­rect­ly so that you are direc­ted to Stol­pen town cent­re. If you enter “am Markt”, you will be direc­ted to a neigh­bou­ring vil­la­ge.
Accom­mo­da­ti­on
Hos­tel room (4‑bed room) at the Löwen:
For par­ti­ci­pan­ts on a tight bud­get, afforda­ble guest­house rooms are available at the hotel (25 EUR per bed per night, plus a one-off char­ge for bed linen and towels). The­se can be boo­ked direct­ly through the hotel (info@hotel-loewe-stolpen.de)
How to get the­re:
By train:
to Dres­den Cen­tral Sta­ti­on; from the­re, take bus num­ber 261 from plat­form 5 towards Seb­nitz to Stol­pen, Schüt­zen­haus­stra­ße (hour­ly ser­vice, jour­ney time approx. 1 hour); from the­re, it is a 5‑minute walk along the sign­pos­ted path to Stol­pen Mar­ket.
Note: When using the rail app, enter ‘Stol­pen, Schüt­zen­haus­stra­ße’. If you sim­ply enter ‘Stol­pen’, you will be direc­ted via Pir­na to Stol­pen sta­ti­on, which is a rather round­about rou­te by train. Fur­ther­mo­re, the walk from Stol­pen sta­ti­on to the mar­ket takes about 20 minu­tes.
By car:
From the south/west/north, take the A4 and exit at Puls­nitz, then take the S177 express­way towards Pir­na as far as Ros­sen­dorf, then the B6 towards Baut­zen until you reach the round­about for Stol­pen.
Par­king:
Stol­pe­ner Markt is a short-stay car park only. Plea­se use car park P1 at the Schüt­zen­haus (day ticket: 6 EUR) – from the­re, it’s a 5‑minute walk along the sign­pos­ted path to Stol­pe­ner Markt.
Exclu­si­on of the right of with­dra­wal
As this con­tract rela­tes to the boo­king of a per­so­na­li­sed ticket for an event on a spe­ci­fic date, the­re is no sta­tu­to­ry right of with­dra­wal under Sec­tion 356(4) of the Ger­man Civil Code (BGB).
Note:
  • The ticket is non-trans­fera­ble and valid only for the per­son for whom it was boo­ked.
  • Can­cel­la­ti­ons or refunds are only pos­si­ble in accordance with our vol­un­t­a­ry can­cel­la­ti­on poli­cy.
Optio­nal can­cel­la­ti­on terms and con­di­ti­ons
If you need to can­cel your par­ti­ci­pa­ti­on, the fol­lo­wing con­di­ti­ons app­ly:
Can­cel­la­ti­on
  • Up to 30 days befo­re the con­fe­rence: 100% refund (minus a €15 admi­nis­tra­ti­on fee).
  • 15–29 days befo­re the con­fe­rence: 50% refund (minus a €15 admi­nis­tra­ti­on fee).
  • Less than 14 days befo­re the con­fe­rence: No refund, except whe­re valid reasons can be demons­tra­ted (e.g. ill­ness, force majeu­re). The­se must be sub­stan­tia­ted by offi­ci­al docu­ments (e.g. a doctor’s cer­ti­fi­ca­te) within 7 days of can­cel­la­ti­on. If the reason is accept­ed, the ticket will be refun­ded (minus a €15 admi­nis­tra­ti­on fee). No refund will be given wit­hout pro­of.
CONSENT TO VIDEO AND AUDIO RECORDINGS
By regis­tering for the con­fe­rence, I con­sent to video and audio recor­dings being made of me during the event. I am awa­re that the­se recor­dings may be published for the association’s pur­po­ses (e.g. docu­men­ta­ti­on, public rela­ti­ons, inter­nal trai­ning). They will be published on the association’s chan­nels (e.g. web­site, social media, news­let­ter).
Tagung 2026 (#120)

No pay­ment items have been sel­ec­ted yet

Any questions?

We look forward to hearing from you!

Social Media

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facebook/isppm.ngo

E‑Mail

info@isppm.ngo

Phone

Mon­day: 9–10 a.m. Thurs­day: 5–6 p.m.

+49 (0)6127 7069975

Inter­na­tio­nal Socie­ty for Pre­na­tal and Peri­na­tal Psy­cho­lo­gy and Medi­ci­ne – ISPPM e.V.

Sude­ten­str. 7
65527 Nie­dern­hau­sen

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