Clinical Psychology

Enika Cocoli Bowen

Wilfred R. Bion Study Group

A group of colleagues gathers weekly over six separate terms in the course of 2024-2025 period for the in-depth study of the work of English psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion. We study and discuss a wide range of clinical topics, inspired by Bion and in our clinical practices.

Contact me if you would like to know more or join.

More study groups may follow at the conclusion of the present one.

STUDIES IN ONTOLOGY

I study the questions of what makes therapy work, how trust is built, and the nature of being, expanding my readings beyond psychology and psychoanalysis into the areas of ontology and philosophy. The publications and presentations (below) offer a sample of this current scholarship.

WORKS IN PROGRESS 2022 – 2026

Body and soul, order and infinity: Hylomorphic foundations of clinical work. Manuscript in preparation.

On soul and mind: The conscious-unconscious via Augustine and Thomas. Manuscript in preparation.

“Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando”: Life and death themes from psychoanalysis and world literature. Manuscript in preparation.

The universal and the concrete. Manuscript in preparation.

Paul over Nietzsche. Manuscript in preparation.

READING PASSAGES THAT CATCH MY EYE

Some of these sources become works in progress (above). Some of them become publications (below).

The universal and the singular

“For Gregory of Rimini [mid-14th century], as for any Aristotelian, not excepting Ockham, science deals with the universal and the necessary, but Gregory concludes from this that the object of science cannot be external reality, which includes only contingent singulars” (É. Gilson, 1955).

“Psychoanalysis deals with the particular, with the single case, and eliminating this creates problems” (D. Birkstead-Breen, 2015).

I happened to read these two quotes nearly at the same time. The particular and the universal make me wonder: Is Gregory’s particular the same as the psychoanalytic singular? Can person be a particular? What is the singularity of the person? What is its universality? Related to the question of person as particular or singular, is the relationship between being and person. The Thomistic tradition hands down a notion of being-with.

The sensible and the Unexpected (P. Sequeri, 2016)

As I meditate upon this book, this passage caught my attention. Music is most powerful because of its connection to pain. In grief, as this passage suggests, this is the transformation from “inarticulate and destructive” to “composed” and “internalized.” This is the work of therapy… Contrary to the fear that pain undermines wellbeing and living well, pain that transforms — and this is sometimes done through the work of therapy — is a journey of growth.

The author elaborates in this book and in others that expression is not the final goal. Neither is wellbeing, if by this we mean something facile. The final goal is the truth.
This is true in therapy, counseling, or accompaniment of others: Once something difficult is expressed — in some cases, this is a new achievement — the journey cannot end there. It must find a correspondence to truth.

A SAMPLE OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2024). Freedom of religion and the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy: The primacy of truth in the therapeutic relationship (forthcoming).

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2024). Male and female in the early psyche: Psychoanalytic contribution for an ontology of person. Forthcoming poster presentation; 98th Annual Conference of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, Chicago, IL.

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2024). The apprehension of truth: Recognition, passion, and truth in psychoanalytic theory. Paper presentation; 46th Annual Conference of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Washington DC.

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2024). “But who do you say that I am?” Affectus fidei and bonds of trust in psychoanalytic practice. Integratus 2(3), 198-217.

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2024). On thinking trauma: A brief introduction to Wilfred Bion’s theory of thinking. Invited lecture, Chernivtsi National University, Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2023). Encounters of trust and faith: Order and discovery in psychoanalytic practice. Integratus 1(4), 307-326.

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2021). Women in psychoanalysis: Carla De Toffoli. Paper presentation; Center for Object Relations, Seattle, WA.

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2021). Faith as blindness that sees: Brief exploration on Bion’s transformation of listening. Paper presentation; Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Studies 31st Annual Forum: A conference on theory and practice, Seattle, WA.

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2021). Faith and vision, faith and blindness: Listening through Bion and Rembrandt. Public lecture; The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, Seattle, WA.

Enika Cocoli Bowen (2020). Women in psychoanalysis: Melanie Klein. Paper presentation; Center for Object Relations, Seattle, WA.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Ongoing since 2007

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Licensed in the State of Washington to provide clinical services ranging from therapy to evaluations.

Ongoing since 2023

PsyPact Authorization

Since 2023, I have been authorized to provide the same services nationwide through the Interjurisdictional Telepsychology Authorization.

Ongoing since 2010

Independent Practitioner

My independent private practice. The majority of this website reflects my independent clinical practice.

Ongoing since 2015

Clinical supervisor, Consultant

I have provided clinical supervision to practicum students and interns, and provide consultations to established professionals.

Ongoing since 2015

Scholar, Writer

Expansion from the focused professional literature to the wider intellectual output of ontology and philosophy.

2004-2023

Professor, Instructor

Different levels of teaching (undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, post-graduate) on topics of clinical psychology, clinical supervision, ethics, research methodology, and psychoanalytic theory.

2008-2010

Correctional Psychologist

I worked as a prison psychologist at the Monroe Correctional Complex (Monroe, WA) where I held several clinical and forensic responsibilities.

2008

Forensic Psychologist

I worked briefly at Harborview Medical Center as a court evaluator to the King County Superior Court on involuntary commitments (RCW 71.05).

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD),

Clinical Psychology

Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA (2002-2007)

Dissertation (2005):

Attachment dimensions, differentiation of self, and social interest: A structural equation modeling investigation of an interpersonal-maturational model.

Doctor of Psychology,

Social and Developmental Psychology

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy (1996-2001)

Dissertation (2001):

Parental narrative and conversational styles of Adult Attachment Interview in young addicts’ families: An experimental analysis of cognitive, emotional, and representational models in eight marital couples.

In a nutshell…

I began my studies in psychology in 1996. During the five university years in Milan, Italy, and the exposure to all the subdivisions of psychology, I enjoyed psychological research at first and then matured a dedication to individual psychotherapy. I practice psychology through a psychoanalytic lens, which means that the care of the person is informed by a joint attention to the internal characteristics and the external interactions with the environment. When I am not doing therapy, I am reading or writing. I also like philosophy a lot and I draw a lot of inspiration from it, about how it can help psychological work towards reaching enduring personal satisfaction after therapy ends.

A personal touch: July 4, 2024

2024 marks 25 years of American residency and 20 years of American citizenship for me. I remain amazed at the historical experiment that the 1770s matured, culminating in 1776 with the Declaration and 1789 with the Constitution. Despite recent discontents and downright attacks on the founding values, my amazement at the backbone of the United States of America — as founded in the 18th century, defended through the victory of the Civil War, and developed all the way to the twin victories of the two World Wars — remains intact. The more I learn about it, the more I appreciate it. There is no other country in the world to have achieved the results of this historic experiment of government by the self-governed. No doubt problems have abounded from the beginning. Yet, I am not inclined to make the common mistake of confusing the principle for the instances. There have been and there will always be instances, and grave ones, of mistakes, tragedies, injuries, and injustices. The principle is still the same: To secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. I did not choose the country of my birth anymore than I chose my parents, but I did choose the United States, although it was out of necessity and I did not know her greatness, until I awoke to the events of her birth and history. I remain in awe at her survival throughout the ideological changes of the last 200-300 years that have changed the face of the earth. Happy Birthday, USA, and thank you!