New Books in Psychoanalysis Daniel José Gaztambide, "Decolonizing Psychoanalytic Technique: Putting Freud on Fanon's Couch" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
Aug 1, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Daniel José Gaztambide, author and director of the Fonsfano Lab, delves into decolonizing psychoanalytic techniques. He reinterprets Freud through Frantz Fanon’s insights, challenging therapists to integrate personal and sociopolitical dynamics in their practice. Key topics include the lasting impacts of cultural trauma, the interplay of race and class among Afro-Puerto Ricans, and the importance of addressing systemic biases in therapy. Gaztambide offers a roadmap for ethical practice that encourages political action alongside personal healing.
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Integrate Theory With Social Context
- Psychoanalytic theory and multicultural competence are often taught as separate, disconnected domains.
- Gaztambide argues for integrating social context into foundational clinical theory and technique.
Fanon Re-reads Freud Collectively
- Fanon reads Freud to synthesize individual psychology with collective dynamics rather than discard Freud.
- Gaztambide emphasizes sewing individual development (ontogeny) to societal development (sociogeny).
Sociogeny: Symptoms Meet History
- Sociogeny means tracing individual symptoms to historical and structural forces, not just validating oppression.
- Therapeutic work must assess patients' adaptive defenses and their costs within a social-historical frame.
