Dr. Helen Michael, Cert. Psya., Psya. D., M.S.W.

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Personal Statement

I was originally trained as a social worker, and I came to BGSP in the 1970s to see what psychoanalytic training could offer in terms of expanding my clinical skills. When I signed up for the Infancy course, I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to get, but I soon knew that I had never seen anything quite like it before. This was process teaching, and I became fascinated by the powerful impact that could be achieved through emotional communication. As someone who loves literature and loves to write, I have also been delighted with how nicely modern psychoanalysis meshes with these interests. The great themes of literature are in all of us, as authors struggle with their unconscious conflicts during the process of creating. Work inhibition has become a particular area of interest for me, and it’s satisfying to find that psychoanalysis can be effective, both in the working through of blocks that interfere with productivity and in the enrichment of the work itself, allowing us to deal better with conflict as we become more comfortable with ourselves.

Ms. Elizabeth Dorsey, MSW, Cert.Psya.

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Personal Statement

I was born to be a modern psychoanalyst. An inquisitive, passionate child, I moved to adulthood studying, in true liberal arts fashion, science, social sciences, humanities, music and fine arts and the world around me. Later, on an eventual career path, social work training led to social systems study and the nomadic search for an intellectual home that would yield the best therapeutic and personal skills I could muster. Modern psychoanalysis became that home.

Today, I am privileged to study the passions of the human mind in clinical practice and research and in the classroom. Topnotch colleagues add excellent minds and creative research interests to the adventure. With students from all walks of life and many parts of the world and the opportunity to bring psychoanalytic insights and training to areas previously lacking in these resources, work is a challenging and evolving pleasure.

Dr. Paula Berman, Psya.D., Cert.Psya., M.Ed.

Vice President of Strategy

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Personal Statement

My undergraduate degree in psychology and my master’s degree in counseling first led me to positions in the mental health field. I then “crossed over” into the business world where I worked for many years as a marketing executive in the high tech industry. My desire to deepen my understanding of the underlying motivation of human behavior, including my own, led me to analysis and then to BGSP to earn my doctorate. Studying Modern Psychoanalysis has been satisfying both intellectually and emotionally.

I enjoy seeing patients in my private practice and working with students in a variety of capacities. I am the Vice President of Strategy, as well as a member of the faculty.