Profile
Barbara Zach
Birth:
1969
Training Location(s):
Mag., University Graz (1997)
MSc, Donau University Krems (2013)
Primary Affiliation(s):
Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research Austria
Women* counsel women* (2007 – 2016)
Private practice for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis
Vienna Working Group for Psychoanalysis
Career Focus:
Jurist, women’s counseling, psychoanalysis and queer theory, author
Biography
Barbara Zach is a psychoanalyst and person-centered psychotherapist in independent practice. She was a staff member of the Vienna Women's Counselling Centre Women* Counsel Women* for many years and is the author and editor of texts on psychoanalysis and queer theory.
Zach grew up with a well-off family background in a small town in Styria. After primary school, she attended general secondary school and graduated with the Matura (Austrian High School Degree). Until puberty, she was able to be a "not so typical" girl, discovering only later that "it was suddenly important how I looked, whether I was wearing makeup or not, that was quite irritating."
Out of interest and because there were already some lawyers in her family, Zach studied law in Graz. At the beginning of her studies, there was not a single female professor at the university. Only one assistant was researching the advancement of women. Later, Zach wanted to take the last remaining exam of her studies, Civil Procedure Law, with the only female professor at her faculty at that time. But this was easier said than done, because for this to become possible, Zach first had to apply and justify her reasons in front of the faculty management, which was finally approved. She wrote her thesis at the law faculty on the advancement of women and protection against discrimination.
When she was about 20 years old, Zach discovered the feminist political magazine “Emma” by chance, which has been a very influential mouthpiece and well-known feminist medium in the German-speaking realm since 1977. She began to find out more and more about feminism through reading (including texts by the German feminist Alice Schwarzer, then editor of "Emma"). As she remarked, "I became a feminist through books." Zach had grown up with the traditional stereotypes that there are separate worlds for women and men and now increasingly went "[...] on [the] search for the g`scheiten [smart] women."
In Graz, she found feminist spaces such as the Coordination Office for Women's Studies, where she met exciting women, ended her long-term relationship with a man, and began a relationship with a woman for the first time: "Me becoming a feminist is inseparable from me becoming aware that I am a lesbian."
On the recommendation of her thesis supervisor in Graz, she went to Vienna after graduation and worked as a jurist in the Ministry of Science under Dr. Eva Knollmayer (former head and ministerial counselor of the Department for the Promotion of Women at the Ministry of Science and Humanities) for four years. Her first two years on the job were interesting and offered a lot of space for networking with other feminists who were also involved with equality issues at the institutional level, such as Elisabeth Holzleithner, Eva Blimlinger, and Alice Pechriggl. Thus, for Zach, it became clear that "feminism [...] does not only involve looking at social realities but also engaging with smart women."
However, two more years in the ministry also made it clear to Zach that she did not want to become a civil servant or stay in law in the long run. As she explained: "You are working for something that cannot be implemented. The legal path to more equal treatment and to more women's advancement was a laborious and frustrating one." In addition, she felt increasingly uncomfortable in the ministry, as it underwent political changes. While Caspar Einem, a cosmopolitan Social Democrat, was the minister when Zach entered the ministry, the position then went to the conservative minister Elisabeth Gehrer (Austrian People’s Party, ÖVP).
After a personal crisis, Zach took a leave of absence. She started psychotherapy and "was taken with what I experienced". She quit her job as a jurist and decided to become a therapist.
Zach had been interested in Freudian psychoanalysis for a long time, but as a feminist, she had at the same time reservations especially about misogynistic, sexist, homophobic and transphobic positions of psychoanalysis. These reservations made her take and complete person-centred therapy training. But the desire for a profound understanding of the human psyche grew even stronger through her first therapeutic training and subsequently led back to psychoanalysis: "At some point I dared to do analysis myself, benefited a lot from it and the training was then the logical next step."
Her six-month internship, as part of her therapy training, led her to the feminist women's counseling centre Women* counsel Women*. The centre was unknown to her at that time, but after the internship Zach stayed for ten years and worked as a social counselor and therapist. It was important to her to focus on counseling women. Her feminist stance was a prerequisite for her acceptance into the collective - as it was in her employment at the Ministry of Science.
In addition to her part-time employment at the counseling centre, Barbara Zach built up her own practice. Since 2017, she has been working as a therapist and analyst exclusively in her private practice.
In retrospect, Zach perceived less personal than structural discrimination in her professional career, especially about the lack of women teachers and the fact of the structural invisibility and silencing of non-heterosexual students. As a student, she would have liked to have had more mentors. She only found role models and supporters later in her life, as in the case of the founders and staff of Women* counsel Women*.
Barbara Zach heard from her father again and again that "women are more stupid than men." Therefore, even as a (future) psychotherapist, it was important to her to consistently lead the discussion on feminist issues. Together with other feminists, she vehemently defended her feminist positions in her training institutions: "The discussion about gender roles had to be conducted permanently in the training courses, also about pathologization, attributions, stereotyping of femininity and masculinity, the unequal treatment of heterosexuality and homosexuality. I am working with colleagues on counteracting this. "
Since the 1970s, Austria has become a much more open society, but for the feminist psychotherapist it is still sobering that violence against women is an "endless topic". Zach also advocates for other oppressed groups, because even as there is some growing acceptance towards gay and lesbian lifestyles, the treatment of trans* identities reveals new forms of discrimination. These social discriminations are still present in training institutions, which is why Zach surmises that even at present, the admission of a transgender person for training as a psychoanalyst in Vienna would probably be met with (internal) resistance.
But Zach feels that queer theory is an important addition to the feminist stance in therapeutic practice: "The feminist lens has been given an addition." Together with the philosopher and psychoanalyst Esther Hutfless, Zach has written about “Queering Psychoanalysis”, and gives lectures and conducts training on this topic.
Zach finds great satisfaction when "there is a good parting with clients after a successful joint work", she is invited to give a lecture, or she has finished a well-written text. The feminist work continues.
By Emelie Rack & Susanne Hahnl (2023)
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Barbara Zach
Hutfless, E. & Zach, B. (2017). Queering Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalyse und Queer Theory – Transdisziplinäre Verschränkungen. Zaglossus Verlag.
By and about Barbara Zach
Zach, B. (2022, February 16). Interview with S. Hahnl [Video recording].
Barbara Zach
Birth:
1969
Training Location(s):
Mag., University Graz (1997)
MSc, Donau University Krems (2013)
Primary Affiliation(s):
Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research Austria
Women* counsel women* (2007 – 2016)
Private practice for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis
Vienna Working Group for Psychoanalysis
Career Focus:
Jurist, women’s counseling, psychoanalysis and queer theory, author
Biography
Barbara Zach is a psychoanalyst and person-centered psychotherapist in independent practice. She was a staff member of the Vienna Women's Counselling Centre Women* Counsel Women* for many years and is the author and editor of texts on psychoanalysis and queer theory.
Zach grew up with a well-off family background in a small town in Styria. After primary school, she attended general secondary school and graduated with the Matura (Austrian High School Degree). Until puberty, she was able to be a "not so typical" girl, discovering only later that "it was suddenly important how I looked, whether I was wearing makeup or not, that was quite irritating."
Out of interest and because there were already some lawyers in her family, Zach studied law in Graz. At the beginning of her studies, there was not a single female professor at the university. Only one assistant was researching the advancement of women. Later, Zach wanted to take the last remaining exam of her studies, Civil Procedure Law, with the only female professor at her faculty at that time. But this was easier said than done, because for this to become possible, Zach first had to apply and justify her reasons in front of the faculty management, which was finally approved. She wrote her thesis at the law faculty on the advancement of women and protection against discrimination.
When she was about 20 years old, Zach discovered the feminist political magazine “Emma” by chance, which has been a very influential mouthpiece and well-known feminist medium in the German-speaking realm since 1977. She began to find out more and more about feminism through reading (including texts by the German feminist Alice Schwarzer, then editor of "Emma"). As she remarked, "I became a feminist through books." Zach had grown up with the traditional stereotypes that there are separate worlds for women and men and now increasingly went "[...] on [the] search for the g`scheiten [smart] women."
In Graz, she found feminist spaces such as the Coordination Office for Women's Studies, where she met exciting women, ended her long-term relationship with a man, and began a relationship with a woman for the first time: "Me becoming a feminist is inseparable from me becoming aware that I am a lesbian."
On the recommendation of her thesis supervisor in Graz, she went to Vienna after graduation and worked as a jurist in the Ministry of Science under Dr. Eva Knollmayer (former head and ministerial counselor of the Department for the Promotion of Women at the Ministry of Science and Humanities) for four years. Her first two years on the job were interesting and offered a lot of space for networking with other feminists who were also involved with equality issues at the institutional level, such as Elisabeth Holzleithner, Eva Blimlinger, and Alice Pechriggl. Thus, for Zach, it became clear that "feminism [...] does not only involve looking at social realities but also engaging with smart women."
However, two more years in the ministry also made it clear to Zach that she did not want to become a civil servant or stay in law in the long run. As she explained: "You are working for something that cannot be implemented. The legal path to more equal treatment and to more women's advancement was a laborious and frustrating one." In addition, she felt increasingly uncomfortable in the ministry, as it underwent political changes. While Caspar Einem, a cosmopolitan Social Democrat, was the minister when Zach entered the ministry, the position then went to the conservative minister Elisabeth Gehrer (Austrian People’s Party, ÖVP).
After a personal crisis, Zach took a leave of absence. She started psychotherapy and "was taken with what I experienced". She quit her job as a jurist and decided to become a therapist.
Zach had been interested in Freudian psychoanalysis for a long time, but as a feminist, she had at the same time reservations especially about misogynistic, sexist, homophobic and transphobic positions of psychoanalysis. These reservations made her take and complete person-centred therapy training. But the desire for a profound understanding of the human psyche grew even stronger through her first therapeutic training and subsequently led back to psychoanalysis: "At some point I dared to do analysis myself, benefited a lot from it and the training was then the logical next step."
Her six-month internship, as part of her therapy training, led her to the feminist women's counseling centre Women* counsel Women*. The centre was unknown to her at that time, but after the internship Zach stayed for ten years and worked as a social counselor and therapist. It was important to her to focus on counseling women. Her feminist stance was a prerequisite for her acceptance into the collective - as it was in her employment at the Ministry of Science.
In addition to her part-time employment at the counseling centre, Barbara Zach built up her own practice. Since 2017, she has been working as a therapist and analyst exclusively in her private practice.
In retrospect, Zach perceived less personal than structural discrimination in her professional career, especially about the lack of women teachers and the fact of the structural invisibility and silencing of non-heterosexual students. As a student, she would have liked to have had more mentors. She only found role models and supporters later in her life, as in the case of the founders and staff of Women* counsel Women*.
Barbara Zach heard from her father again and again that "women are more stupid than men." Therefore, even as a (future) psychotherapist, it was important to her to consistently lead the discussion on feminist issues. Together with other feminists, she vehemently defended her feminist positions in her training institutions: "The discussion about gender roles had to be conducted permanently in the training courses, also about pathologization, attributions, stereotyping of femininity and masculinity, the unequal treatment of heterosexuality and homosexuality. I am working with colleagues on counteracting this. "
Since the 1970s, Austria has become a much more open society, but for the feminist psychotherapist it is still sobering that violence against women is an "endless topic". Zach also advocates for other oppressed groups, because even as there is some growing acceptance towards gay and lesbian lifestyles, the treatment of trans* identities reveals new forms of discrimination. These social discriminations are still present in training institutions, which is why Zach surmises that even at present, the admission of a transgender person for training as a psychoanalyst in Vienna would probably be met with (internal) resistance.
But Zach feels that queer theory is an important addition to the feminist stance in therapeutic practice: "The feminist lens has been given an addition." Together with the philosopher and psychoanalyst Esther Hutfless, Zach has written about “Queering Psychoanalysis”, and gives lectures and conducts training on this topic.
Zach finds great satisfaction when "there is a good parting with clients after a successful joint work", she is invited to give a lecture, or she has finished a well-written text. The feminist work continues.
By Emelie Rack & Susanne Hahnl (2023)
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Barbara Zach
Hutfless, E. & Zach, B. (2017). Queering Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalyse und Queer Theory – Transdisziplinäre Verschränkungen. Zaglossus Verlag.
By and about Barbara Zach
Zach, B. (2022, February 16). Interview with S. Hahnl [Video recording].