Psychodynamic Consultation Group for Latinx Therapists

Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series:

The Institute for Clinical Social Work is pleased to announce the formation of a psychodynamic clinical consultation group for Latinx therapists, with regular meetings beginning in November. This group will create a space for licensed psychodynamic (or those interested in psychodynamic and psychoanalytic theory) Latinx therapists to discuss clinical material.   The group will focus on contemporary articles focusing on how colonial mentality, racism, culture, language, and immigration shape our internal worlds, as well as those of our patients.

Our clinical consultation group was created to provide a network of mutual support for Latinx therapists, led by two of ICSW’s esteemed faculty members, who are each experts in their field.

This group will create a space for licensed Latinx therapists to discuss clinical material as well as classical and contemporary psychoanalytic articles focusing on how colonial mentality, racism, culture, language, and immigration shape our internal worlds as well as our patients. That is, the intersectionality of suffering: race, class, political, economic, and sociocultural determinants of human suffering. 

As a participant, you will:

1. Learn how race, class, political, economic and sociocultural factors contributed to their patients’ suffering.

2. Identify their own racial biases and their impact in their work with their patients.

3. Describe the relevance of psychodynamic thinking when discussing race, class, political, economic and sociocultural factors.

4. Apply basic psychodynamic theoretical tenants and concepts when discussing client material. 

Presenters: Merari Fernandez Castro, PhD, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and a psychodynamic psychotherapist currently working in private practice. Dr. Fernandez graduated with a doctoral degree in philosophy in clinical social work from the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago and a Master of Social Work from the University of Puerto Rico. She has developed curriculum and taught courses at Loyola University and Smith College. She is currently a faculty member at the Institute for Clinical Social Work. She has worked with several populations at various community agencies and group practices such as immigrant survivors of domestic violence, the LGBTQA community and survivors of sexual assault by providing direct services, institutional trainings and a consultation. She has focused her research on immigrant psychotherapists of color and their struggles. She is currently a collaborator of Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora and produces Diaspórica el Podcast. 

Kelly G. Arteaga, PsyD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Chicago, Illinois. She
works individually with adults and is particularly passionate about working with BIPOC
patients, immigrants and children of immigrants, and fellow therapists. She recently
completed three years of study at the Stephen Mitchell Relational Study Center. Her
interests include Latine and multiracial identity, relational psychoanalysis,
supervision/consultation, trauma, and loss/mourning. 

Course Schedule: Wednesdays

November 5, 2025

December 3, 2025

January 7, 2026 

February 4, 2026

March 4, 2026

April 1, 2026

May 6, 2026

June 3, 2026

Where: VIA Zoom

Time: 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm CST

Apply by Sunday, November 2, 2025

Cost: $440 per person

**12 CEs are available for licensed social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists and psychologists
in Illinois