In this lecture, Shirley Liao, PhD, FIPA will share a paper presented as part of a panel presentation at IPA Asia Pacific 2026 conference. In an era marked by political unrest, environmental collapse, and digital oversaturation, this presentation will offer a closer look at the transnational phenomenon of “parachute kids” that emerged in the 1980s and continues—from Asia to the West, particularly to the U.S. Often, these minors who are sent abroad alone in the name of seeking educational opportunities, consciously and unconsciously carry their parental fantasy about life in the U.S. and the responsibility to fulfill the parents’ narcissistic expectations for their children to achieve dreams and wishes that they did not realize. Many of these kids carry into their adulthood both intra- and interpsychic/racial tension, isolation, and dissociation (Eng & Han, 2018). The vulnerability of young age while having no available “good enough” parental object can often render parachute kids’ adjustment into the U.S. culture traumatic for a fragile and budding self (Brady, 2015). Narcissistic defense can easily become the default mechanism to survive and accommodate to the undue external pressure and internal experience of aloneness, parental abandonment, and racial displacement (Brandchaft, 2007). Underneath the “soft belly” of this narcissistic coping is a tremendous amount of shame. The presenter will offer a unique theoretical formulation of the self-experiences of the “parachute kids” who often struggle with profound invisibility. A trauma-informed, relational/intersubjective approach that integrates the body into psychoanalytic practice will be discussed for the participants to apply to their own clinical work.
Seeing the Invisible: Trauma, Loss, and Racial Psychic Lives in Psychoanalytic Practice
Agenda
- 7:30pm Welcome and introduction
- 7:35pm Presentation
- 8:40pm Q&A
Learning Objectives
- Describe the psychic challenges of adolescence/adolescent state of mind and some of its relation to bodily symptoms.
- Explain the psychoanalytic understanding of "pathological accommodation" in childhood trauma.
- Identify areas of invisibility in patients and explore the effectiveness of integrating body into psychoanalytic practice.
Meet the Presenter
Shirley Liao, PhD, FIPA
Dr. Shirley Liao is a licensed psychologist and psychoanalyst in Orange County, California. She has been in the field for over 20 years and in full-time private practice since 2008. Dr. Liao received an M.S. in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Rosemead School of Psychology. She holds a certificate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and a full certificate in Psychoanalysis from the Newport Psychoanalytic Institute (NPI).
In addition to seeing patients and engaging in various professional activities, Dr. Liao is experienced in providing individual and group clinical supervision and consultation for clinicians who work psychodynamically in different settings. She is co-founder of Seaside Psychotherapy and Training Center (Huntington Beach and Tustin, CA). Currently in her practice, Dr. Liao mainly works with adult patients who suffered pervasive childhood trauma and continue to struggle with its impacts in the present day, intrapsychically, interpersonally, and in the body. She is also trained in EMDR and integrates the body/soma, culture, and spirituality into her practice. Dr. Liao is a faculty member and board member at NPI.
References
Eng, D. L., & Han, S. (2018). Racial melancholia, racial dissociation: On the social and psychic lives of Asian Americans. Duke University Press.
Harrang, C., Tillotson, D., & Winters, N. C. (Eds.). (2022). Body as psychoanalytic object: Clinical applications from Winnicott to Bion and beyond. Routledge.
Sletvold, J., & Brothers, D. (2021). A new language for traumatic experience: From dissociation–enactment to the fracturing of embodied wholeness. International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 30(3), 149–155.
Disclosures
Division 39 is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Division 39 maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
CE Eligibility
This program, when attended in its entirety, is eligible for 1.5 continuing education credits. Austin Psychoanalytic will provide certificates of attendance to participants who attend the program in full. Austin Psychoanalytic’s continuing education programs are sponsored through Division 39’s APA-approved continuing education program. It is the responsibility of each licensee to verify that a given program meets the continuing education requirements for their specific license. Participants outside of Texas should consult their own licensing boards regarding CE eligibility.
Accessibility, Non-discrimination, and Privacy
Division 39 is committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in all continuing education activities and conducts its programs in accordance with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Reasonable accommodations will be made whenever possible for participants with accessibility needs. Questions, concerns, requests for accommodations, or complaints may be directed to info@austinpsychoanalytic.org. Participants are also asked to respect the privacy and confidentiality of others throughout the program.
Financial Disclosure
There is no commercial support for this program. Neither Division 39, Austin Psychoanalytic, nor the presenter has any financial relationships or conflicts of interest that could reasonably be construed as influencing the program content.
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Grievances
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