Fridays @CCP Lecture Series
Rev. Kenji Kuramitsu, M.Div, LCSW
(Chicago, Il)
Psychoanalytic Group Work in Occupied Palestine
Friday March 13, 2026
7-9pm (CST)
Zoom
About the Presentation: Gramsci observed that the new world struggles to be born while the old refuses to die – as Žižek paraphrases, we now live “in the time of monsters.” This presentation examines unconscious processes in therapeutic groups operating within contexts of state violence, drawing from recent fieldwork in the West Bank during the Gaza war and genocide. Intergenerational trauma, chronic humiliation, and racial-economic domination shape psychic life in Palestine, positioning groups as vectors of violence or as potent sites of resistance, moralization, and collective meaning-making. What meaning do core group psychotherapeutic principles – such as role, ritual, and routine – take on under coercive social conditions that destabilize individual and collective mental life? Drawing on Fanon, Volkan, Benjamin, Sheehi, and others, this talk will integrate current events, group case studies, and psychoanalytic theory to examine how practitioners can think responsibly about violence, witnessing, and ethical responsibility in "the time of monsters.”
Rev. Kenji Kuramitsu, LCSW, M.Div., is the Associate Dean for Community Life at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago and a psychotherapist in private practice. His work engages the intersections of collective memory, racialized violence, and group dynamics. A Certified Group Psychotherapist, he has served as a Teaching Faculty member for the American Group Psychotherapy Association and as an Adjunct Professor at McCormick Theological Seminary, providing consultation for clinicians, clergy, and community organizations on trauma, ethics, and collective healing. His writing has appeared in Sojourners and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, where his creative work on Japanese American incarceration has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to Identify three psychoanalytic concepts relevant to clinical work in contexts of political violence (e.g., identification with the aggressor, projective identification, traumatic invalidation).
Participants will be able to Describe how large-group trauma, intergenerational transmission of trauma, and state repression shape transference, countertransference, and therapeutic neutrality in occupied, postcolonial or militarized settings.
This presentation is designed for Intermediate-level participants
Fees
CCP members: free with annual $195 membership, payable at registration.
Students:free with annual $175 membership, payable at registration.
New Fellows / Ongoing: free with annual $250/$300 membership, payable at registration.
Non-CCP members, single admission: $50
Continuing Education
This program is sponsored for Continuing Education Credits by the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis. There is no commercial support for this program, nor are there any relationships between the continuing education sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding that could be construed as conflicts of interest. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If the program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content. CCP is licensed by the state of Illinois to sponsor continuing education credits for Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Counselors and Licensed Clinical Psychologists (license no. 159.000941 and 268.000020 and 168.000238 Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation).
Professionals holding the aforementioned credentials will receive 2.0 continuing education credits for attending the entire program. To receive these credits a completed evaluation form must be turned in at the end of the presentation and licensed psychologists must first complete a brief exam on the subject matter. No continuing education credit will be given for attending part of the presentation. Refunds for CE credit after the program begins will not be honored. If a participant has special needs or concerns about the program, s/he/they should contact Toula Kourliouros Kalven by March 12, 2026 at: tkalven@ccpsa.org
References/Suggested Readings
Iyer, R. B. (2024). January 6th: An exploration of racial introjection and social construction.Psychoanalytic Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/24720038.2024.2372636
Sheehi, L., & Sheehi, S. (2022). Psychoanalysis under occupation: Practicing resistance in Palestine. Routledge.
Fanon, F. (1967). Black skin, white masks (C. L. Markmann, Trans.). Grove Press.
Benjamin, J. (2004). Beyond doer and done to: An intersubjective view of thirdness. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 73(1), 5–46.
Kuramitsu, K. (2024). On Palestine, our language must not blur the truth. Pacific Citizen, 178(1), 2.https://pacificcitizen.org/wp-content/uploads/archives-menu/Vol.178_%2301_Jan_26_2024.pdf
Presented by
The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis/CCP Program Committee: Zak Mucha, LCSW, Alan Levy, PhD, Toula Kourliouros Kalven.
The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis is an IRS 501(C)(3) charitable organization, and expenses may be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and your personal tax situation.