In Culturally Informed Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Dr. Pratyusha Tummala-Narra demonstrates her approach to psychotherapy that involves an integration of contemporary psychoanalytic theory, multicultural psychology, and feminist psychology.Her theoretical understanding of clients' presenting issues is based on the idea that individual development is shaped by interpersonal, sociocultural, and systemic factors and circumstances. She presents a model for a psychoanalytic, culturally informed psychotherapy which extends existing conceptualizations within psychoanalysis and psychology to a deeper understanding of the interplay between the individual and his/her sociocultural world, and its influence on identity, relationships, and psychological well-being.
In this video, Dr. Tummala-Narra demonstrates this approach to therapy with a Caucasian woman who is coming into therapy to deal with deep-rooted feelings regarding race and racial tension. This video features a client portrayed by an actor on the basis of actual case material.
Usha Tummala-Narra received her PhD in clinical psychology from Michigan State University. She has held clinical, research, teaching, and administrative roles throughout her career. She is the former director of the Asian Mental Health Clinic and supervising psychologist in the Victims of Violence Program, both at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School, and a supervising psychologist at Georgetown University School of Medicine and the Michigan School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Tummala-Narra has practiced psychotherapy for more than 20 years. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology at Boston College, and a teaching associate at the Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. She has an independent practice in Cambridge, MA. Her publications concern research, theory, and clinical practice in the areas of multicultural issues, particularly immigration and race, and traumatic stress. She has also written extensively on psychoanalytic perspectives in psychotherapy.
