Enika Cocoli Bowen, PhD
Clinical Psychology
Education
First…
I began studies in psychology at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, in Milan, Italy. These five years exposed me to every aspect of psychology, such as experimental, cognitive, psychoanalytic, as well as neuroanatomy, biology, social psychology, developmental psychology, group psychology, family psychology, statistics, and psychometrics. Some other classes were also quite enjoyable, such as philosophy and theology. Then I became interested in clinical psychology and all the classes from that point on were focused specifically on all aspects of psychotherapy. But, as I liked research, I decided to focus on it when I was working on my first dissertation. The next chapter changed many of my plans.
The beautiful lawns in the two cloisters of the main campus are always off limits… until the day of the dissertation defense — the last day of university. I walked that lawn proudly on October 8, 2001. I used to walk in front of the Duomo of Milan, one of the most famous late-medieval cathedrals, every day to and from school, in the last two years of my Italian life.
Next…
At Seattle Pacific University, it turned out, I got to repeat several of these branches I had already studied in Italy. Nevertheless, these five years were different because I was now living in the United States and this was to become my life. Whereas I was a student in Italy, the United States became my home. It is to this day.
During these years and especially when I was working on my second dissertation, the research path seemed still the best pursuit. But when I began clinical training, I switched focus from research to clinical work. This is what I do to this day. The Assessment and Therapy tab on this website reflects the bulk of my working days. It has been so for over 20 years.
Our projects
And now…
The one-on-one relationship between me and each individual I work with is my central focus and all the work that follows below addresses various aspects of life that people bring in.
To reflect the time I have put in the clinical work, these pictures reflect the passing of time and the various places where I practiced. The first picture is my first therapy room in private practice after some years of academic and institutional positions. The second is about halfway through… so far. The last one is my current room. Each one of them brings with it many memories, important all, some unforgettable.
Experiences, current and past
Since
2007
Clinical Psychologist
Licensed (2008) in the State of Washington to provide clinical services ranging from therapy to evaluations.
Since
2010
Independent Practitioner
My independent private practice. The pages of psychotherapy and assessment cover the details of clinical activity.
Since
2015
Scholar, Writer
Expansion from the focused professional literature to the wider intellectual output of ontology and philosophy.
Since
2023
PsyPact Authorization
Provision of clinical services nationwide through the Interjurisdictional Telepsychology Authorization.
2015
2025
Clinical supervisor, consultant
Clinical supervision to practicum students and interns, and consultations to established professionals.
2004
2025
Professor, Instructor
Teaching at undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, post-graduate levels on clinical psychology, clinical supervision, ethics, research methodology, and clinical theory.
2008
2010
Correctional Psychologist
Prison psychologist at the Monroe Correctional Complex (Monroe, WA) with clinical and forensic responsibilities.
2008
Forensic Psychologist
Court psychologist and qualified expert witness at King County Superior Court in involuntary commitment (Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA).
Scholarship
Scholarly Interests and Pursuits
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.
Below are examples of my scholarly activities, as published papers, scholarly opinions, lectures, and posters at annual conventions of professional associations, as well as works currently in progress.
The sovereign Logos and the insufficient signifier in the A.I. era: Lacan’s symbolic order fails the realism of Aquinas. Paper presentation (2026); 48th Annual Conference of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Emmitsburg, MD.
In this presentation, I offer a clinical contribution on the parallels between Thomas Aquinas’s notion of the phantasm and Jacques Lacan’s mirror stage, arguing that both frameworks reveal a fundamental dependence of human cognition and subjectivity on mediated images. I argue that Lacan’s mirror’s stage can be interpreted as a critique of a misused Thomistic structure.
A unique professional opportunity:
Enika Cocoli Bowen et al. Amici Curiae brief in support of petitioner, Supreme Court of the United States on Chiles v. Salazar (2025).
UPDATE, March 2026: The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in our favor.
Being patient: Personhood, receptivity, and readiness with St. John Paul II. Integratus, vol. 3, no. 4 (2025): 301-323.
In this essay I offer an ontological reflection on the meaning of “patient” and why it is superior to “client,” the term most often used formally and informally. In this reflection, I draw from several sources on the meaning of “person” from Greek and Latin literature, patristic and medieval sources, and culminate with the thomistic-phenomenological analysis of Pope John Paul II. I make the connection between “person” and “patient,” discovering why this term preserves and elevates human dignity more than “client” ever could.
Freedom of religion and the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy: The primacy of truth in the therapeutic relationship. Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly, vol. 45, no. 4 (2025): 322-334.
In this essay, I argue for the primacy of freedom, drawing from US Founding documents and their underlying sources of inspiration, reflecting on the ordered understanding of freedom.
Finding the Eucharist in the structure of mental reality. Paper presentation (2025); 47th Annual Conference of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Arlington, VA.
In this presentation, I offer clinical illustrations on the mind-world connection and the ability to understand oneself realistically.
The memory of life and the coherence of clinical work. Paper presentation (2025); Catholic Psychotherapy Association.
In this presentation I offer a clinical and theoretical comparative study on the question of memory in the psychoanalytic and Augustinian traditions.
Male and female in the early psyche: Psychoanalytic contribution for an ontology of person. Poster presentation (2024); 98th Annual Conference of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, Chicago, IL.
In this poster presentation, I argue for the foundation of thinking on the basis of the male-female complementarity.
“‘But who do you say that I am?’ Affectus fidei and bonds of trust in psychoanalytic practice. Integratus 2, no. 3 (2024), 198-217.
In this essay, I reflect on the trustworthiness of affect, that is, the ability to trust that which makes a deep emotional impact.
The apprehension of truth: Recognition, passion, and truth in psychoanalytic theory. Paper presentation (2024); 46th Annual Conference of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Washington DC.
In this presentation, I presented a comparative study of psychoanalytic and theological concepts.
On thinking trauma: A brief introduction to Wilfred Bion’s theory of thinking. Invited lecture (2024), Chernivtsi National University; Chernivtsi, Ukraine.
In this lecture, I presented Wilfred Bion’s theory of thinking to a large group of Ukrainian psychologists to strengthen thinking capacities in order to survive trauma.
Encounters of trust and faith: Order and discovery in psychoanalytic practice. Integratus 1, no. 4 (2023), 307-326.
In this essay, I laid out the link between trusting that which is ordered. Chaos is not trustworthy.
Faith as blindness that sees: Brief exploration on Bion’s transformation of listening. Paper presentation (2021); Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Studies; 31st Annual Forum, Seattle, WA.
In this paper presentation, I deepened the comparison between psychoanalytic listening and Rembrandt’s most famous painting.
Faith and vision, faith and blindness: Listening through Bion and Rembrandt. Public lecture (2021); The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, Seattle, WA.
In this lecture, I drew comparison between psychoanalytic listening and Rembrandt’s most famous painting.
Women in psychoanalysis: Carla De Toffoli. Paper presentation (2021); Center for Object Relations, Seattle, WA.
In this presentation, I presented the life and work of Italian psychoanalyst Carla De Toffoli, translating some of her most groundbreaking clinical insights.
Women in psychoanalysis: Melanie Klein. Paper presentation (2020); Center for Object Relations, Seattle, WA.
In this presentation, I presented the life and work of the Austro-Hungarian and English psychoanalyst Melanie Klein.
In progress
On envy and gratitude: Re-reading psychoanalytic works in the key of Thomas Aquinas
In progress
“Memory that errs not” – Inspired by Dante’s Inferno
In progress
Mors et vita duello: Life and death themes from psychoanalysis and world literature.
In progress
Paul over Nietzsche or the fate of doubt.
In progress
The male-female complementarity as an early hylomorphic contributor to intellection.
Appointments
(206) 321-9392
ecocolibowen@gmail.com
© 2024-2026 Enika Cocoli Bowen, PhD.
All rights reserved.
All pictures are from Dr. Cocoli Bowen’s private photo collection.