Bích / Beth: A Psychoanalytic & Sociopolitical Inquiry of Names

Mikita Brottman (she/her), PhD, NCPsyA, is a psychoanalyst and professor of literature and psychology at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has a PhD from Oxford University and was formerly the Chair of Engaged Humanities at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in California. Her articles have appeared in American Imago, and the American Journal of Psychoanalysis. She is the author of sixteen books, the most recent of which is Guilty Creatures (Simon & Schuster, 2025). She has been described by the New York Times as "one of today's best practitioners of nonfiction." 

Alpana Choudhury (she/her) is a psychoanalytic therapist based in NYC. Her work utilizes an intersectional lens to examine experiences of trauma, identity development, and marginalization. She is the founder of Wove Therapy where she trains and supervises earlier career clinicians. She is a graduate of the One Year Program in Psychoanalysis and the Sociopolitical World, and a candidate in the Certificate Program at Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis.   

Melissa Daum (she/her) is a psychotherapist, supervisor, and the founder of Atrium Psychotherapy, a psychodynamic group practice in New York’s West Village. She is an advanced candidate at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP) and earned her graduate degree from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she focused on Jungian theory. Before entering private practice, Melissa worked in eating disorder treatment. She also teaches in NYU’s Mental Health Counseling Program, where her classes are known as playgrounds for exploring depth-oriented clinical work. Her paper Queen of the Dead: Psychic Retreats and Anorexia, co-authored with Kathryn Harrison, was nominated for a Gradiva Student Paper Award in 2021. A former dream advice columnist for the brand Free People, Melissa continues to bring a creative and symbolic sensibility to her teaching, writing, and clinical work.  

Jasmine W. L. Khor (she/her) works in a private practice setting
in San Francisco, with a focus on immigrant children and adults. She
grew up in Hong Kong, fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. Her
avid curiosity in poetry and literature has shaped her listening
between cultural discourses where meanings are left behind. Her
clinical experiences in community mental health, rehabilitation, and
hospice care heavily informs her work surrounding migration, language,
and absence.