The Metropolitan Institute for Training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
A CEU- APPROVED ONLINE WORKSHOP SEEKING ASYLUM – TWICE AS LIKELY PRESENTER: SUSAN McNAMARA, MD
Freud fled from Vienna to London in 1938, terrified after the Gestapo picked up his daughter, Anna. It was not easy to get the Freuds the necessary immigration permits from the British government and even more difficult to extricate the Freuds from Nazi Vienna. Ernest Jones applied pressure through diplomatic channels and the Nazis needed to be bribed. Psychoanalysts from Austria and Germany fled to Britain, Switzerland, the United States, and Argentina, essentially anywhere they could gain entry, many times leaving behind family members who would be murdered in the camps. Over and over, we see people fleeing their countries for safety and struggling to gain legal status and avoid deportation to a certain death. We will discuss the psychodynamics of immigration, the physical and psychological trauma of those who emigrate, and the practicalities of how one might help new immigrants by providing objective assessments and essential documentation supporting legal claims for asylum, T Visas, and other forms of humanitarian relief and protection in the United States.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will: 1) understand the historical and psychological context of immigration, 2) investigate how trauma affects the cognitive, emotional, and physical health of people who are immigrants, 3) learn the critical role of health professionals in rigorously documenting human right abuses in immigration cases.
PRESENTER: SUSAN McNAMARA, MD Faculty: Metropolitan Institute for Training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Adult Program. Managing Editor: Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association Review of Books, and editor of the “Dancing While Queer” issue published by Psychoanalytic Inquiry, November 2025. Dr. McNamara is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has been working for the past 20 years with those seeking political asylum by providing free psychiatric evaluations to document evidence of torture and abuse for people fleeing persecution in their home countries, and providing affidavits for use in US Immigration Court by their attorneys, as well as providing court testimony.
SUNDAY,
OCTOBER 18, 2026
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
(Daylight Saving Time)
ONLINE THROUGH ZOOM
Zoom instructions and meeting link will be emailed to participants prior to the workshop.
FEE: $60 or $40 for students (with proof of student status)
NO FEE FOR MCMH STAFF THERAPISTS
Registration deadline:
October 16, 2026
TO REGISTER:
https://www.mitpp.org/events/
2 Contact Hours
The New York State Education Department has approved this online workshop for 2 contact hours (CEUs) for LMSWs, LCSWs, LMHCs, LPs, LMFTs and Licensed Psychologists. A certificate will be emailed to those who sign in at the beginning of the session, stay until the end of the session, complete an emailed evaluation. The evaluation form will be emailed to you within a week of the event and usually much more quickly. Full session must be attended to be eligible for CEUs/Contact hours.