Episode #17 - Dr. Galit Atlas - Emotional Inheritance

“The people we love and those who raised us live inside us; we experience their emotional pain, we dream their memories, we know what was not explicitly conveyed to us, and these things shape our lives in ways that we don't always understand.” - Dr. Galit Atlas (2022, p. 11)

Dr. Galit Atlas is a psychoanalyst and clinical supervisor in private practice in New York City. She is on the faculty of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis. Dr. Atlas has published three books for clinicians and numerous articles and book chapters that focus primarily on gender and sexuality. Her New York Times publication “A Tale of Two Twins” was the winner of a 2016 Gradiva Award. A leader in the field of relational psychoanalysis, Dr. Atlas is a recipient of the André François Research Award and the NADTA Research Award. She teaches and lectures throughout the United States and internationally.

I first encountered her work in 2018 in her book Dramatic Dialogue which was co-authored with her life partner, the late Lew Aaron. I found her writing to be both accessible and honoring of the unending complexity and mystery that emerges in each therapeutic relationship.

I had the good fortune of sitting down with her via Zoom to discuss her latest book, Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma. This is her first book written for the general public and she has done a beautiful and heart-ful job of taking complex psychoanalytic ideas and making them relatable by way of the clinical and personal tales that fill the pages. I couldn't put this book down and would strongly encourage you to get a copy. she also narrated the audiobook if that is more your style.

Thank you for listening and please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Galit Atlas.

If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you would take a moment to give it a rating on iTunes.

Find Dr. Atlas online:

Instagram: @galit_atlas

Facebook Author Page: Galit Atlas

Website: https://www.galitatlas.com/

New Book: Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma

Links:

Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy (RFPT) - Post-grad continuing education program for psychotherapists that I teach in and mentioned at the end of this episode. We have opened enrollment for the Fall  2022 cohort. If you’re a therapist and want to learn more, I’d love to chat with you! Send me an email at: bryan@mindfulcounselinggr.com. Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy (RFPT) is an evidence-based treatment approach with strong roots in depth psychology (particularly contemporary Relational Psychoanalysis), dialogical philosophy, and neuroscience. As of December 2018, the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy has set forth policy recommendations that evidence-based therapy relationships and responsiveness be taught as frequently as other evidence-based treatments. (Reference: Norcross, J. C., & Lambert, M. J. (2019). Psychotherapy Relationships that work III. Psychotherapy, 55,4, p. 303-315). The RFPT certificate program is a direct response to these policy recommendations.

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Bryan Nixon is a psychotherapist and the founder and clinical director of Mindful Counseling GR in Grand Rapids, MI. He is also a teacher and facilitator in Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy, a post-grad continuing education program for therapists.