Dorothy Evans Holmes

Dorothy Evans Holmes
Born1943 (age 82–83)
Illinois, United States
Alma materSouthern Illinois University (PhD)
Case Western Reserve University
University of Rochester
Known forWork on culturally-imposed trauma and the intersections of race, class and gender
AwardsSigourney Award (2022)
Scientific career
FieldsPsychoanalytic theory
InstitutionsUniversity of Maryland, College Park
Howard University
George Washington University
The International Journal of Psychoanalysis
The Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
Psychoanalytic Education Center of the Carolinas

Dorothy Evans Holmes (born 1943) is an American psychoanalytic thinker, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist. She is known for her work on racial and cultural trauma.

Early life and education

Holmes was born in 1943 and was raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States.[1] She has a twin sister called Doris.[1]

Holmes studied a PhD in psychology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois and spent a year working as an Intern in Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio, under the supervision of Charles DeLeon. She then completed a two-year psychoanalytical post-doctoral program in Psychiatry at the University of Rochester. She became a member of the Baltimore Washington American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA) Institute.[1]

Career

Between 1970 and 1973, Holmes taught at the University of Maryland, College Park, before teaching at Howard University in Washington, D.C. from 1973 to 1998.[1] She has been a member of the National Register of Health Service Psychologists since 1975.[2] Holmes became Program Director of the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program at the George Washington University (GWU) in 1998,[3][4] working at GWU until her retirement in 2011.[1]

Holmes is a leading thinker in the field of psychoanalysis on the impact of racial and cultural trauma on mental health.[2][5][6] She has criticised the reluctance of traditional psychoanalytic institutions and clinicians to address culturally imposed trauma and recognise the resultant harm.[7][8] She also put forward the theory that "both analyst and analysand collude in avoiding dealing with race in the transference, because of its links to violent impulses and the deeply embedded cultural racism."[9]

Holmes presented at the 2013 Black Psychoanalysts Speak Conference,[2][10] and was featured in the documentary made about the conference, Black Psychoanalysts Speak (2014), directed by Basia Winograd. In 2017, Holmes worked as a training and supervising analyst with the Psychoanalytic Education Center of the Carolinas, who offer the Holmes Fellowship in her honour.[4]

In 2020, The Holmes Commission on Racial Equality in American Psychoanalysis (CO-REAP) was established, with support of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA), to study systemic racism in American psychoanalysis and produce an action plan for recommended changes to the APsA's governance structures, policies and practices.[2][11] Holmes served as Chairperson of the commission.[4][12]

Holmes served on the editorial boards of The International Journal of Psychoanalysis and The Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She is also a Trustee on the Board of the Accreditation Council of Psychoanalytic Education.[13]

Select publications

Awards

  • Division 39 Diversity Award (2017)[3]
  • Sigourney Award (2022)[19][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Helfgott, Esther Altshul (October 21, 2017). "Dorothy Evans Holmes (1943- )". BlackPast.org. Archived from the original on May 23, 2025. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Registrant Spotlight: Dorothy E. Holmes, PhD". National Register. November 16, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Tummala-Narra, Usha (2022). "Interview with Dorothy Evans Holmes, Ph.D." Division Review. 27. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Holmes Fellowship". Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas. Archived from the original on April 28, 2025. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  5. ^ Koshkarian, Lisa (September 1, 2024). "Debunking majoritarian stories in the consulting room: Returning voice through accompaniment, witnessing, and counterstorytelling". Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. 29 (3): 429–442. doi:10.1057/s41282-024-00440-w. ISSN 1543-3390.
  6. ^ a b Lowe, Frank, and Jules Pearson. (2012) "Therapy with black and minority ethnic people in prisons and secure mental health settings: Keeping race in mind." in Psychological Therapy in Prisons and Other Settings. pp. 195-211.
  7. ^ Akhtar, Salman (June 21, 2012). The African American Experience: Psychoanalytic Perspectives. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. pp. 70–72. ISBN 978-0-7657-0837-3.
  8. ^ Abel, Elizabeth; Christian, Barbara; Moglen, Helene (September 1, 2023). Female Subjects in Black and White: Race, Psychoanalysis, Feminism. Univ of California Press. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-520-91815-3.
  9. ^ Gherovici, Patricia; Steinkoler, Manya (November 29, 2022). Psychoanalysis, Gender, and Sexualities: From Feminism to Trans*. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-77247-0.
  10. ^ Stoute, Beverly J.; Slevin, Michael (October 31, 2022). The Trauma of Racism: Lessons from the Therapeutic Encounter. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-71963-5.
  11. ^ "The Holmes Commission on Racial Equality in American Psychoanalysis – American Psychoanalytic Association". April 5, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  12. ^ Goodman, David; Manalili, M. Mookie C. (March 25, 2024). Meaningless Suffering: Traumatic Marginalisation and Ethical Responsibility. Taylor & Francis. p. 2016. ISBN 978-1-003-86292-5.
  13. ^ "Dorothy Evans Holmes, PhD, ABPP, FABP". BPS Website. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  14. ^ Petts, Ann; Shapley, Bernard (May 8, 2018). On Supervision: Psychoanalytic and Jungian Analytic Perspectives. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-91705-9.
  15. ^ Christopher, Elphis; Solomon, Hester McFarland (May 29, 2020). Contemporary Jungian Clinical Practice. Routledge. p. 1990. ISBN 978-0-429-91223-8.
  16. ^ Tummala-Narra, Pratyusha (November 1, 2016). "Discussion of "Culturally Imposed Trauma: The Sleeping Dog Has Awakened. Will Psychoanalysis Take Heed?": Commentary on the Paper by Dorothy Evans Holmes". Psychoanalytic Dialogues. 26 (6): 664–672. doi:10.1080/10481885.2016.1235946. ISSN 1048-1885.
  17. ^ White, Cleonie (November 1, 2016). "I Am, You Are, We … Are … Us! Discussion of "Culturally Imposed Trauma: The Sleeping Dog Has Awakened: Will Psychoanalysis Take Heed?" by Dorothy Evans Holmes, Ph.D.". Psychoanalytic Dialogues. 26 (6): 673–677. doi:10.1080/10481885.2016.1235947. ISSN 1048-1885.
  18. ^ El Shakry, Omnia (2024), "Colonialism and Postcolonial Theory", The Palgrave Handbook of Psychosocial Studies, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 307–330, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-30366-1_15, ISBN 978-3-031-30366-1, retrieved August 15, 2025{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  19. ^ Parker, Jennifer (November 15, 2022). "Dorothy Holmes, PhD, 2022". The Sigourney Awards. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  20. ^ "The Sigourney Award-2022 Honors Five Recipients For Outstanding Work Advancing Psychoanalytic Principles Globally". The Sigourney Award. 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
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