A psychiatrist and a musician discover where and when reason hits its borders in an open, mainly improvised dialogue. What connects them both is the openness for the professional terrain of the other and an interest in philosophy and literature of enlightenment. It is important to Becker and Wolf to understand the presence better through the help of often unfairly forgotten historic insights. They create a connection in their conversation which connects the starting points relating to the history of ideas with current topics. They ask questions like: Are “Neuro-Myths” created by the recent neurobiological research and its massive popular-scientific distribution? Is social therapy a “social-romantic model of the past”? In what way is therapy an art form, or how can art become therapy? How and when does “therapeutic art” become artless – is this a gain or a loss?

The playing of short musical pieces, video sequences and pictures gives both conversation partners new impulses and the listeners a nonverbal completion of the dialogue.

About the persons:

Prof. Dr. med. Hans Pfefferer-Wolf is the head doctor of psychiatry and teacher the medical college Hannover. He represents a critical and oriented in the arts and sciences social-psychiatric standpoint in research and teaching, in the practice of psychiatric care and in his publications, and is very familiar with the developments in Italian psychiatry, based on tight work relationships.

Dr. rer.biol.hum Klaus Becker is a freelance musician, pedagogue and music therapist at the Klinikum Bremen-Ost; he understands his musical work and his collaboration with musicians outside Europe as a form of transcultural communication; in his publications he especially deals with the ordinariness and immediacy in therapeutic interaction, both from psychiatric and arts and science-based points of view.