The Romani Woman and the (non)Wandering Jew: Immigration, Dissociation, and The Search for Belonging

Abstract

The author writes about growing up with her complex and enigmatic immigrant father, who lived many years as a stigmatized other, a Russian Jew in northern China. She focuses on the impact this personal family history has on her treatment with a female Romani patient from Eastern Europe, a more recent immigrant, who also lived many years as a stigmatized other. The author differentiates between the experience of one-time immigrants and migrants, the latter being haunted by generations of dislocation, which causes them to question their fundamental sense of safety and belonging. The author discusses the ways the personal and professional threads become interwoven in the work, impacting the bi-directional conscious and unconscious flow of the treatment. Together patient and analyst build toward a mutually transformative moment, following a clinical impasse.