09/24/2024
My interview for CAPA-
Catching Up With Our Members, Students and Graduates
Enjoy learning more about colleagues who make CAPA special!
Member Interview
Where do you live and practice?
Describe your current work and/or type of practice, or if retired, describe the work you used to
do.
Please describe your career path, including your educational development such as additional degrees or
institutes you attended as you built your career.
Who would you say is the person that influenced your career the most, and how so?
How did you first hear of CAPA, and please describe why you feel a connection to CAPA’s mission?
Please add anything else about yourself that you want the people in CAPA to know about you. You can
also use this space to include a description of the image you uploaded.
New York City and Mohegan Lake, NY.
I'm a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. I mostly work via Zoom, but I see people in person too. Zoom lets me work with people wherever I am and wherever
they are. I love it!
I was always inclined to help people. I worked as a youth counselor in Israel in 1967 and 1968, and briefly worked in civil defense. I returned to New York and
began working with youth here too, both for HARYOU Act and for NYC services, where I counselled children in foster care and their families.
I realized that I needed help myself, and I started psychoanalysis. Soon I began studying at NPAP and used the concepts I was learning in my work with my
own clients. I was impressed by the power of psychoanalysis. During this time, I also got a master’s degree in psychology at the New School for Social
Research, and eventually a PhD at Union Institute and University. This was all a long process, during which I became a certified yoga teacher and a certified
yoga therapist.
Leila Lerner, who was my psychoanalyst, and Art Robbins, who was my psychoanalytic supervisor for decades, were both strong influences. They listened
with sympathetic understanding as I explored my difficult childhood. They were realistic and accepting of me, and I felt that they cared for me and understood
me. Together they saved my life.
A colleague, I don't remember who, mentioned CAPA, and I investigated. The idea of working with people in China, visiting China, learning about China, was
deeply appealing. I have always been curious about the many ways that people live. CAPA's mission to share the benefits of psychoanalysis, help people,
and teach people is close to my heart. After all, psychoanalysis saved my life. I want that for others too.
Lynn Somerstein, PhD has been a CAPA member since
2011. She has been a teacher and supervisor over the
years. Her support of CAPA also includes interviewing Basic
Training applicants as part of the admissions process. Lynn
traveled to China with CAPA’s tour in 2011.
Lynn Somerstein, PhD
This is a picture of me in my New York City office. On the left you can see a loom. I like to knit and to weave - two meditative practices. Meditation is an important part of my life.
