Introduction by

A Central American mother and her teen suicidal daughter were evaluated forensically by two senior psychoanalysts, Gilbert Kliman, MD and Susan Siegeltuch, LCSW, FIPA. Both mother and daughter experienced multiple traumas in their country of origin as well as having their trauma reactivated by ICE and their time in detention. The interviews were conducted with psychoanalytically-informed thinking, awareness of transference and countertransference and empathic and humane listening.   Bearing witness to traumatized individuals and the atrocities they experienced has to be tolerated by the interviewers. This first-hand account of an asylum seeker and her daughter is a tribute to this mother’s resilience and the power of attachment. It is also a demonstration of how psychoanalysts can make a significant contribution to work outside one’s office.