Conference on Mental Health. Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Neufeld Institute.

Thriving Families, Thriving Society.

International Conference on the Mental Health of Children, Parents, and Society

🗓️ March 13–15, 2026, Prague

Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a world-renowned Canadian psychologist and the author of the attachment-based developmental theory, will come to Prague for the second time.

His approach is transforming how we understand children, emotions, learning, and behavior – and it inspires parents, teachers, and professionals worldwide.

He will be joined by Tamara Neufeld Strijack, Eva de Gosztonyi, and other members of the international faculty of the Neufeld Institute – exceptional lecturers who combine scientific depth with humanity, wisdom, and practical experience – and who are able to speak about child development and emotions clearly, deeply, and with genuine understanding.

At the same time, this will be the largest gathering with the teaching faculty and team members of the Neufeld Institute in Europe as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Canadian institute – a unique opportunity and a great honor for the Prague campus to host this event.

Gordon Neufeld is coming to Prague only for the second time. His first visit was for a smaller conference in May 2025.

What it will be about:

About what children truly need in order to grow, learn, and flourish – about attachment, emotions, play, and rest, which create the conditions for maturation.

About how we can create environments in families, schools, and society that foster empathy, humanity, and the ability to explore the world and learn.

For whom:

For parents, educators, psychologists, therapists, and leaders and responsible professionals in education, care, and the creation of conditions for families and children – for all who want to understand children deeply. Interpretation into Czech will be provided, as well as the option to purchase a recording.

Program:

Friday, March 13 – a day for professionals, decision-makers, educators, and curious parents:

How to understand children’s mental-health challenges and what truly helps.

Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15 – days focused primarily on parents, but also suitable for curious professionals:

How attachment, emotions, play, and rest support healthy development and resilience.

Practical information

🔗 Registration and program:
https://hrejivadeka.cz/en/webinars/conference-2026-prague/

Tickets are on sale. Early purchase comes with a discount (more on the registration page). The number of seats is limited.

Contact: info@neufeldinstitut.cz

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Organized by the Neufeld Institut CZ/SK.

Our goal is to support adults in understanding children and creating conditions for their growth (we are currently establishing a nonprofit organization for this purpose). More in the section About the Neufeld Institute CZ/SK.

Speaker profiles

Dr. Gordon Neufeld has over 50 years of experience as a clinical psychologist working with children, adolescents, and adults who are responsible for them. He is a leading authority on child development and, since retiring, continues to be an international speaker, bestselling author (Hold On to Your Kids), and leading interpreter of the developmental approach.

Dr. Neufeld is widely recognized for making complex issues understandable and opening doors to change. While he previously taught at the university level and in private practice, he has spent most of the last two decades developing courses for parents, teachers, and helping professionals. These courses are offered primarily through the Neufeld Institute, an online educational institute and global nonprofit organization dedicated to applying developmental science to child-rearing.

Dr. Neufeld’s lifelong mission is to help adults create conditions for healthy child development. He is the father of five children and grandfather of eight grandchildren. More at neufeldinstitute.org

Tamara Strijack is a mother, lecturer, advisor, consultant, and creative soul. Any day, you can find her guiding, connecting, developing people, or creating. One of her greatest joys is being close to others on their journey—whether they are looking for ways to express their emotions or trying to find their role as parents, teachers, or professionals in the helping professions. Her personal playground, her space for play, is writing with fountain pens, expressing her inner experiences through collages, and wandering through the forest.

She is an advocate of playful encounters and connecting with the natural world, a salt collector, a curator of breaks, and a friend of Folklife magazine, whose motto, “slow the folk down,” she takes very seriously. More at tamarastrijack.ca

Eva de Gosztonyi worked in education across Canada for more than 50 years. For many years, she also led a Quebec organization that provided support to teachers and schools working with students with significant behavioral challenges. After retiring, she took on the coordination, supervision, and mentoring of the Neufeld Institute’s project to help Ukrainian orphans. Eva is still active, giving lectures, connecting theory with practice, and helping those who work with children and youth to become the best they can be. Eva enjoys her marriage, two adult children, and grandchildren. More at evadegosztonyi.org

Conference partners