413: Psychoanalytic Approaches Toward Racial and Other Diversities
Instructor
Chanda Griffin, LCSW
February 2 – March 9, 2026
Mondays, 8:35 – 10:00 pm
No class: 2/16
If you are attending class remotely, please click here
Co-requisites
Candidates must have or have had at least two cases in supervised psychoanalysis to be eligible for upper level courses.
Course Description
In this course, we will examine the unconscious processes that undergird experiences of minoritization, and consider their psychological impact. A range of readings from the psychoanalytic literature from various eras will be paired with first person accounts from podcasts, enabling us to approach a complex topic from multiple vantage points. We will consider defensive processes, the sociocultural placement of psychoanalysis within and outside of psychoanalytic institutions, the impact of societal factors on structuralization, the role of socially generated trauma, and other topics. Clinical implications, such as work within the racialized transference and racialized enactments in the therapeutic setting, will be explored within class discussions. (Third and fourth year combined; alternates with 415)
Educational Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
- Identify some of the anxieties associated with engaging issues of diversity, difference and otherness.
- Identify the central role of curiosity as an antidote to cultural ignorance and insensitivity and be able to cultivate such curiosity in themselves and in their patients.
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Recognize pitfalls and breakdowns that can occur in diversity-related explorations and find ways to use these in the service of the restoration of open, constructive dialogue in the psychoanalytic process.
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and his or her demonstration of understanding of the course objectives and reading material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
These articles are protected under relevant copyright regulations. They are available in the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Electronic Reserve for your convenience, and for your personal use.
READINGS FOR 2026 CLASS ARE CONFIRMED.
If you are attending class remotely, please click here
I. Difference, Anxiety & Defense
CLASS 1: February 2, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Cramer, P. (2015). Understanding Defense Mechanisms. Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 43:523-552.
Also VISIT: https://theracecardproject.com/
II. Psychoanalytic Institutions in the United States
CLASS 2: February 9, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Holmes Commission Report [Read Executive Summary pp. 5-20]
Rao, J. M. (2021). Observations on Use of the N-Word in Psychoanalytic Conferences. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69:315-341.
Glass, I. (Host). (2006, May 19). Parental Guidance Suggested (No. 313) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American Life. This American Life. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/313/parental-guidance-suggested.
LISTEN TO ACT ONE Please note: This podcast features someone narrating their experience as a white child in the Jim Crow South. It features a racial slur spoken multiple times in its entirety.
III. Race and Social Class
CLASS 3: February 23, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Holmes, D. E. (2006). The Wrecking Effects of Race and Social Class on Self and Success. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 75:215-235.
Glass, I. (Host). (2015, March 13). Three Miles (No. 550) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American Life. This American Life. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/550/three-miles.
LISTEN TO ACTS ONE & TWO
Dissociated Anti- Blackness and Racial Multiplicity
IV. Identification with the Aggressor and Internalized Oppression
CLASS 4: March 2, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Ferenczi, S. (1988). Confusion of Tongues Between Adults and the Child—The Language of Tenderness and of Passion. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 24:196-206.
Menjivar, J. (Host). (2012, April 13). Own Worst Enemy (No. 462) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American Life. This American Life. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/462/own-worst-enemy.
LISTEN TO ACT THREE
V. Outside of the Binary, Immigrant Experience, and Culture
CLASS 5: March 9, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Tummala-Narra, P. (2023). Awakening to Racial Trauma Faced by Asian Americans. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 33:77-86.
Wang, L. (Host). (2016, April 22). In Defense of Ignorance (No. 585) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American Life. This American Life. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/585/in-defense-of-ignorance.
LISTEN TO ACT ONE