"What Does ‘Culturally-Informed Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy’ Look Like in a Polarized Society?" with Usha Tummala-Narra, Ph.D.
Part of BGSP's Fall 2024 | Spring 2025 Speaker Series: "Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Race, Racism and Culture"
Hybrid event (in-person at BGSP in Brookline, MA or via Zoom)
In this presentation, Dr. Tummala-Narra will revisit her framework for culturally informed psychoanalytic psychotherapy within the context of social, economic, and political polarization. There will be a special emphasis on exploring identity among immigrants and the second generation in contemporary American society. She will highlight unconscious processes underlying identifications concerning race, culture, migration, and the socio-political contexts associated with these identifications. Moreover, she will explore the prospect of decolonizing psychoanalytic theory and practice and use clinical vignettes to focus on relevant dilemmas within the therapeutic relationship.
Presenter
Usha Tummala-Narra, Ph.D. is a Professor of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology at Boston College. Her research and scholarship focus on immigration, trauma, and culturally informed psychoanalytic psychotherapy. She is also a clinical psychologist in private practice and works primarily with survivors of trauma from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Dr. Tummala-Narra is an Associate Editor of “Psychoanalytic Dialogues” and the “Asian American Journal of Psychology.” She is a member of the ‘Holmes Commission on Racial Equality in American Psychoanalysis’ and the author of “Psychoanalytic Theory and Cultural Competence in Psychotherapy” (2016), the editor of “Trauma and Racial Minority Immigrants: Turmoil, Uncertainty, and Resistance” (2021), and co-author of “Applying Multiculturalism: An Ecological Approach to the Multicultural Guidelines” (2023). Dr. Tummala-Narra is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including being listed among the top 2% of highly cited scholars worldwide (Stanford University).
Discussant
Mahrou Zhaf, Psy.D. holds two doctoral degrees—one in Psychoanalysis and Culture and another in Clinical Psychoanalysis. She is an Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality at St. Lawrence University and a practicing psychoanalyst. Her research examines the unconscious formations of identity in relation to power, with a focus on gender, coloniality, and cultural psychopathology.
OBJECTIVES
The participant will be able to:
- Describe ways in which the socio-cultural context of the client and the therapist influence conceptualizations of health and pathology in development.
- Recognize how psychoanalytic theory and practice are impacted by social, economic, and political polarization.
- Identify how experiences of privilege and oppression contribute to complex and sometimes contradictory cultural identifications, and challenging dynamics within the therapeutic relationship.
2 CE Units / Clock Hours
BGSP is authorized to provide CEs for: Psychologists (all levels), Social Workers, Counselors
Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. BGSP maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5676. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
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The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis is accredited by the New England Commission on Higher Education.
Direct inquiries may be made regarding the accreditation status by NECHE to the administrative staff of the institution. Individuals may also contact: New England Commission on Higher Education, 3 Burlington Woods Drive, Ste 100, Burlington, MA 01803-4514, at (781) 425-7785 or email: info@neche.org
