There were informers even among those who were supposed to treat the souls of fellow human beings, and not to hurt them
Jitka Vodňanská, née Schánilcová, was born on November 12th of 1944 in Praha to the family of Václav Shánilec, a lawyer, and his wife Olga, née Monastýrská. Her father came from South Bohemia, her mother from Ukraine. After the World War II, her family moved to Blatná, where Jitka would spend her childhood and adolescence. In 1961, she went to Praha to study anthropology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, graduating in 1966. During the following two years of political changes, Jitka experienced personal crisis. She undertook two journeys to the West that influenced her profoundly, and in Germany, where she had been working at a hospital as an unskilled labourer, she discovered her calling: to help people. In 1969, Dr Jaroslav Skála chose her to join his team at U Apolináře Alcohol Rehab Clinic. In years to come, she studied psychology and underwent several trainings in psychotherapy. She had been working as an alcohol abuse therapist; and after Dr Skála entrusted her with running the Child and Youth Centre, she transformed it into the Centre for psychotherapy and family therapy where she has been working since. In 1977, she married Jan Vodňanský, a writer and a songwriter, and gave birth to their son, Tomáš. Both she and her husband had been active in the dissident movement, in their flat, clandestine lectures were being given, and Jan lost all his income after signing the Charter 77 declaration. In 1979, Jitka experienced the harsh treatment during the interrogation for the first time, she was blackmailed and and her flat was searched by the police. In the mid 80s, after her divorce, she started a relationship with Václav Havel - a persecuted dissident- which had lasted till the early 90s. In November 1989, she co-founded the Občanské fórum (Civic Forum) cell at her workplace; she also helped to create a group of professionals offering care to the people traumatised not only during the protests in Národní třída (National Avenue) but also by the rapid social change. In 1992, she would run for the seat in the Federal Assembly as a ODA party candidate, later distancing herself from the politics. In the years after the Revolution, she faced more challenges, related both to her profession and self-growth; she found her ‘spiritual home’ in Burma, where she would travel every year. She has been running her private praxis and also working at Centre for psychotherapy and family therapy.