Bio

I am a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist in full-time private practice in Brookline, Massachusetts. The people I work with are seeking assistance for a variety of issues, from getting to know themselves more deeply, to depression, anxiety, trauma, relationship problems, and loss.

Outside of my practice, I teach seminars at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and The Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis. The seminars I teach are on psychopathology and the British and Independent Schools of Psychoanalysis, specifically the work of Wilfred R. Bion. I am a former board member of the Boston Group for Psychoanalytic Studies, a group of colleagues who met for over 17 years to organize clinical workshops and other professional training events in Massachusetts and beyond. I am involved in scholarship and editorial work, functioning in the role of Book Review Editor at The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, as well as serving on the editorial boards of several psychoanalytic journals, including the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Psychoanalytic Quarterly. I am also a Fellow of the College of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, and a member of the Center for Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies (CAPS).

Anchor 1 CV

CV

Education

2005
2000
1997

Doctoral Degree (Psya. D.) in Psychoanalysis. The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.
Masters Degree (M.A.) in Psychoanalytic Counseling. The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.
Bachelor of Science Degree (B.Sc.) in Psychology. Autonomous University of Central America, San José, Costa Rica

Psychoanalytic Training

2025

2015

Board Certification. American Board of Psychoanalysis – Denver, Colorado.
Certificate in Psychoanalysis. The Psychoanalytic Institute of New England.

Faculty Academic Appointments

2021-present

2015-present

2012-2014

2007-2008

2006-2011

2004-2007

Core Faculty. The Massachusetts Institute of Psychoanalysis.
Core Faculty. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.
Instructor. The Clinical Fellowship Program of the

Psychoanalytic Institute of New England.
Faculty. The Vermont Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.
Faculty. The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.
Teaching Assistant. The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.

Board Memberships

2022-present

2016-present

Board of Directors, The Psychoanalytic Quarterly

Board of Directors, The Boston Group for Psychoanalytic Studies.

Editorial Activities

2021-present

2020-present

2019-present

2019-2023

2016-present

Book Review Editor. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly.

Fellow, College of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis

Editorial Board Member. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly.

Editorial Board Member. The Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Associate Editorial Board Member. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis.

Committee Service

2024-2025

2023-present

2021-present

2019-2021

2017-2019

2014-2015

2011-2014

2009-2011

Tele-analysis Committee. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

Student Committee. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

Program Committee. Co-chair. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

Program Committee. Member at large. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

Off the Couch Committee. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

Members Council. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

Local Activities Committee. International Psychoanalytic Studies Organization Congress, Boston, Massachusetts, 2015.

Program Committee. Psychoanalytic Institute of New England.

Curriculum Committee. Psychoanalytic Institute of New England.

Appointments at Hospitals/Mental Health Services

2005-2011

2004-2005

2003-2011

2000-2004

Director. Latino Partial Hospital, Arbour Hospital.

Supervisor. The Boston Public Health Commission Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, Outpatient Mental Health Treatment Unit.

Psychotherapist. Arbour Counseling Center.

Psychotherapist. The Boston Public Health Commission Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, Outpatient Mental Health Treatment Unit.

Professional Memberships

2025-present

2023-present

2021-present

2015-present

2008-present

American Board of Psychoanalysis, Fellow

Center for Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies (CAPS, group 7)

Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalyst Member

Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Psychoanalyst Member

The American Psychoanalytic Association
The International Psychoanalytic Association

Presentations, National and International

Upcoming

2026

Past

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

Barahona, R. Webinar: Clinical implications of Bion’s theory of Transformations in Hallucinosis: Negative and Positive Hallucinations in the Psychoanalytic Process. Center for Object-Relations. May-June, 2026.

Barahona, R. Initiating Analysis. Massachusetts Association for Psychoanalytic Psychology. Cambridge Health Alliance Learning Center. Saturday, February 7, 2026.

Barahona, R. 50 Years on. André Green’s 1975 London Report and the Aesthetic Turn in Psychoanalytic Process. Living Theory Conference. Shifting Frontiers in Psychoanalysis. André Green’s London Report 50 Years On. Free Associations. Online. October 18, 2025.

Barahona, R. Initiating Analysis. Hanshin Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. Seoul, South Korea. Online. Saturday, October 11, 2025.

Barahona, R. Visiting Scholar at the Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. Paper: Initiating Analysis. Discussant: Maxine Anderson, MD, FIPA. Seattle, Washington. March 21-23, 2025.

Barahona, R. Case presentation to CAPS Group 7 (Center for Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies), Princeton, New Jersey. March 14, 2025.

Barahona, R. Discussion Group 26, Contemporary Trends in Psychoanalytic Technique. An International Perspective. Presenter. Paper: On Finding One’s Ghost. 2025 National Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. San Francisco, CA. February 5, 2025.

Barahona, R. Discussion of Jeff Eaton's paper, "Welcoming Suchness: On Listening to Yourself Listening to Another" Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis. March 9, 2024

Barahona, R. Transformaciones en O y en K: Apuntes sobre la escucha psicoanalítica y la dirección y el fin de la interpretación en el campo. (Transformations in O and in K: Notes on psychoanalytic listening, aim, and goal of interpretation in the field). Presentation given to the members of the Colombian Psychoanalytic Society. March 18, 2023.

Barahona, R. Discussion of Kerry Walsh's paper, "Opening the Fortress of Solitude: Can it become safe to feel with another?". Alan Pollack Psychotherapy Conference on the Nature of Transference. The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. February 25, 2023

Barahona, R. Presenter of book chapter, “The hallucinated field”, Book Launch of The Post Bioninan Field Theory of Antonino Ferro. Boston Group for Psychoanalytic Studies. September 24, 2022.

Barahona, R. Presenter at Two-Day Clinical Workshop, 2022 National Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Barahona, R. Presenter: Contemporary Field Theory. The Florida Psychoanalytic Center. April 29, 2022.

Barahona, R. Presenter: Field Theory. The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. November 11, 2021.

Barahona, R. Discussant for Jay Greenberg's presentation "When pleasure is the enemy", presented to the Massachusetts Institute of Psychoanalysis. September 29, 2018.

Barahona, R. BPSI (Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute) Off the Couch: Analysis of the film The wife. Dir. Bjorn Runge. Coolidge Corner Theater. September 18, 2018.

Barahona, R. Presenter at the Two-Day Clinical Workshop, at the American Psychoanalytic Association National Meeting. Discussant: Mitchell Wilson. February 14 & 15, 2018.

Barahona, R. BPSI (Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute) Off the Couch: Analysis of the film mother!. Dir. Darren Aronofsky. Coolidge Corner Theater. September 19, 2017.

Barahona, R. Presenter at the Tenth Annual Clinical Writing Workshop. Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. October 22, 2016.

Barahona, R. BPSI (Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute) Off the Couch: Analysis of the film Snowden. Dir. Oliver Stone. Coolidge Corner Theater. September 20, 2016.

Barahona, R. Case presentation: Analysis of the negative transference. Center for Psychoanalytic Studies of the Costa Rican Association for Socio-critical Psychoanalysis, in San Jose, Costa Rica. December 19, 2015.

Barahona, R. Presenter: Psychoanalytic understanding of depression. Class given to third- and fourth-year psychiatry residents at University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts. December 10, 2015.

Barahona, R. Case presentation. Clinical Workshop with Riccardo Lombardi. Boston Group for Psychoanalytic Studies. October 17, 2015.

Barahona, R. Paper presentation: Anxiety in the Field of the Other: Otherness as the Issue of Our Time. International Psychoanalytic Association 49th Congress, Boston, MA. July 24, 2015.

Barahona, R. Presenter at IPSO (International Psychoanalytic Studies Organization) Supervision with Senior Analyst, Dr. Laura Etchegoyen. International Psychoanalytic Association 49th Congress, Boston, MA. July 25, 2015

Barahona, R. Presenter at the Presentation to a Senior Psychoanalyst David Bell. IPSO Day, Clinical Seminar for Candidates. Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York. November 22, 2014.

Barahona, R. Presenter at the Candidate-to-Candidate discussion group at the American Psychoanalytic Association National Meeting in New York. Enactment and Representability in the Analysis of a Woman with a Dead Mother Complex. January 16, 2014.

Barahona, R. Presenter: Apophia: the collapse of time and the bond with the Other. Revisting E.Pichon-Riviere’s vínculo, in relation to time and psychoanalysis. XIX IPSO European Meeting in Warsaw, Poland: Time, Temporality, and Tempo in Psychoanalysis. September 20-23, 2013.

Barahona, R. Presenter: Analysis of the film “Unforgiveable”, dir. André Techiné. Belmont Film Festival, Studio Cinema, 376 Trapelo Road. Belmont, MA. April 16, 2012.

Barahona, R. Presenter: Forgetting Margarita, or shared unconscious fantasy: when resistance is an Artifact of the analytic interaction, Universidad Rafael Landivar Guatemala City, Guatemala. July 2, 2009

Barahona, R. Presenter: Forgetting Margarita, or shared unconscious fantasy: when resistance is an artifact of the analytic interaction. Universidad Fransisco Marroquin. Guatemala City, Guatemala. June 30, 2009.

Barahona, R. Presenter: Attitudes Towards War, Peace, and Torture in Costa Rica. 32nd Interamerican Congress of Psychology. Guatemala City, Guatemala. June 29, 2009

Barahona, R. Presenter: Forgetting Margarita, or shared unconscious fantasy: when resistance is an artifact of the analytic interaction. Center for Psychoanalytic Studies of the Costa Rican Association for Socio-critical Psychoanalysis, in San Jose, Costa Rica. February 2, 2009.

Barahona, R. Organizer and moderator of conference "From Conflict Theory to Theorists in Conflict: The Place of Modern Psychoanalysis in the Contemporary Landscape", Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. Presenters: Joseph Scallia, M. Ed., Robert Marshall, Ph.D, Jane Snyder, Ph. D. June 21, 2008

Barahona, R. Presenter: Clinical work with borderline and "non-neurotic" patients: A Bionian and post-Bionian perspective (La Clinica de los trastornos limítrofes y los pacientes "no-neuróticos": Una perspectiva Bioniana y pos-Bioniana). Delivered to the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, San Jose, Costa Rica. December 18, 2007.

Barahona, R. Conference organizer and moderator for "Narcissistic Issues in

Psychoanalytic Training: Between the Institute's and the Analyst's Narcissism” at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. Presenter: Eddy Carrillo, MS., MA. (CEP, Costa Rica); Discussant: Dr. Mara Wagner, BGSP. May 10, 2007.

Barahona, R. Instructor: Seminar on contemporary perspectives on the psychoanalytic technique of neurosis: the works of Freud, Fred Busch, and Merton Gill. Three-day seminar imparted to psychoanalytic candidates at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, Costa Rica. October 30-Nov 2, 2006.

Barahona, R. Organizer and Moderator of conference, Why Drive Theory? Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. Presenters: Dr. Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau, Dr. Jane Snyder, Eddy Carillo, MSc. M.A. October 14, 2006.

Barahona, R. Panel Discussion: Psychoanalysis off the couch: Psychoanalysis in the real world. Part I. Students and Faculty of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. January 2006.

Barahona, R. Panel Discussion: Psychoanalysis off the couch: Psychoanalysis in the real world. Part II. Students and Faculty of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. April, 2006.

Barahona, R. Presenter: The Dream and the Nightmare as Enactment: Considerations for the Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Good and Bad Dreams. Presented to the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies (Centro de Estudios Psicoanalíticos), San Jose, Costa Rica. December 22, 2005.