An African American Woman Considers Transcendence via Psychoanalysis

ABSTRACT

As a recent graduate in psychoanalysis, I assert that psychoanalysis has been responsible for a significant transformation in my life – indeed a transcendence over the intended constraints posed by my designated race, gender, and social class. I review my biography in the context of the seismic changes our social structures have continued to experience. My biography is analyzed using eclectic psychoanalytic theories to demonstrate the use of psychoanalysis in the service of personal liberation. Mentalization, as well as, Developmental and Attachment psychoanalytic theories may be used in an emancipatory effort by those currently oppressed or marginalized in our society when trained psychoanalysts are accessible. I believe the history of anti-Black racism is relevant to the psychoanalysis of patients regardless of race. The concept of “Racial Battle Fatigue” will be described and applied to the analysis of myself, a person of African descent.

KEYWORDS:

• African American
• psychoanalytic training
• racism
• self-liberation
• race

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Debra Myers

Debra Myers, M.D., Psy.D., has a private practice of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in West Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Harvard Medical School with training at Stanford Medical Center in Internal Medicine and in Pulmonary Disease/Critical Care Medicine at UCSF. She received her Psy.D. in Psychoanalysis from the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles and is a dual member of the New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, California.