Asian American Experiences in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysts today are now reflecting on our field’s marginalization of racialized minorities. Clinicians are trying to see psychodynamic and psychoanalytic practice in ways that include awareness of cultural trauma and disavowal.

This field is required.
This field is required.

Saturday, September 27, 2025

10:00 - 12:00 PM In-Person 
Registration is required for this program.
This event will be held in-person at BPSI.
 

Asian American Experiences in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysts today are now reflecting on our field’s marginalization of racialized minorities. Clinicians are trying to see psychodynamic and psychoanalytic practice in ways that include awareness of cultural trauma and disavowal. This panel will explore new ways of inquiring about Asian American experiences in psychotherapy and in psychoanalysis. In what ways can racialized minorities be traumatized in society–and helped or retraumatized in the clinic? What are some of the transference-countertransference dynamics within culturally divergent (or culturally similar) therapeutic dyads involving Asian Americans? 

The panel will consider, among other topics, the diversity of Asian American patients and their cultural and social experiences; the role of colorism in the consulting room when treater and patient are both Asian American; and the complexity of the “model minority” image. Internal processes within Asian American patients and therapists will also be explored. In what ways can racial prejudice be internalized? When race and loss are disavowed by analysts—and when cultural expectations and perfectionism are either embraced tightly or rejected by patients—what dynamics unfold? 

  

Co-Moderator and Presenter

 

Komal Gupta, PsyD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Newton, Massachusetts. She is an incoming first year Candidate at BPSI, and she serves on the Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) committee. Her clinical and scholarly interests focus on racial and cultural identity development, intergenerational trauma and resilience, and cultural issues specific to Indian communities.

 
 

Presenters

 

Kris Yi, PhD, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Pasadena, California. She teaches at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis (ICP) of Los Angeles, where she is a Training and Supervising Analyst. Dr. Yi serves as an associate editor on race and psychoanalysis for the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (JAPA) and has held numerous leadership positions in the American Psychological Association's Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. The author of “Asian American Experience: The Illusion of Inclusion and the Model Minority Stereotype” (Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 2023), she presents widely on Asian American experience and topics related to race and racial identity. With Usha Tummala-Narra, she is currently editing a special issue on the Asian American experience for JAPA. 
 
 

Usha Tummala-Narra, PhD is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology at Boston College. Her research and scholarship focus on immigration, trauma, and culturally informed psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Dr. Tummala-Narra is an Associate Editor of Psychoanalytic Dialogues and is a member of the Holmes Commission on Racial Equality in American Psychoanalysis and serves on BPSI Board of Trustees. She is 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. 

 

Co-Moderator

 

John Martin-Joy, MD is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in Cambridge, MA, and chair of the Library Division at BPSI.  He is co-editor of Conversations with Donald Hall; author of Diagnosing from a Distance, a study of the history and ethics of American Psychiatric Association's Goldwater Rule; and author of articles exploring the work of psychoanalyst Erik Erikson in historical context. 
 

 

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe an example of diversity within the socially constructed category of “Asian American” patients.
  2. Explain how colorism might manifest in the transference and countertransference when working with Asian American patients in psychotherapy or psychoanalysis.
  3. Discuss the notion of a “model minority,” its social uses and misuses, and its possible unconscious meanings.  
 

Schedule

10:00      Introduction of Panel and Speakers
10:10      Komal Gupta presentation
10:35      Kris Yi presentation
11:00      Usha Tummala-Narra presentation
11:25      Q&A/open discussion
12:00      Program Ends 

This program is made possible by the generous support of BPSI members and friends. Your gift to BPSI supports psychoanalytic and psychotherapy education and ensures the future of our field. To make a gift, please visit www.bpsi.org.

 
The target audience for this program is mental health clinicians at all levels of training and members of the community.
 
 
FEES*: 
$125 Progrsm Fee
$110 Early Bird Special (available until 09/10/2025) Use Code at Checkout: EB2025FALL
 
We are committed to accessibility for all of our programs. BPSI offers an Equity Rate, and we invite you to pay what you are able for this event.
 
*The fee is waived for Early Career Clinicians (within 5 years of licensure), BPSI Members & Partners.

 

Recording

This event will not be video recorded, but may be audio-recorded for transcription and archival purposes, and may be used for educational purposes. 

Continuing Education

Physicians: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint provider ship of American Psychoanalytic Association and The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute . The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.”
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company. -Updated July 2021-

Psychologists: The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This course offers 2 hours of CE credits for psychologists.

Social Workers: Application for social work continuing education credits has been submitted. Please contact us at team@bpsi.org or 617-266-0953 for the status of social work CE accreditation.
Please note: Per NASW requirements, social workers must attend 80% of a course in order to be eligible for continuing education credit.

Licensed Mental Health Clinicians: The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (BPSI) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6913. BPSI is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This program offers 2 NBCC Clock Hours.
 
 

Event Cancellation Policies & Procedures
Any program participant requesting their individual program registration be canceled must submit their request in writing via email to BPSI Office at team@bpsi.org. For fee-based events, a request for cancellation (and refund using the original form of payment) must be received no later than 48 hours in advance of the event. Requests received later than 48 hours prior to the event will not be processed or accepted. All approved refunds are subject to a $10.00 administrative fee. If BPSI cancels an event, all registrants will receive a full refund of fees paid (no administration charge) no later than two business days following the scheduled date of the event, using the original form of payment.

Grievance Policy
Please address any questions or concerns about your experience at this or any program or event you have attended at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute to the Program Chair, via the Administrative Team, BPSI,141 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459; team@bpsi.org; 617.266.0953.

The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Inc.,141 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459, does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin or handicap in the admissions, administration of its educational programs, scholarship programs or employment.