Introduction to Helí Rafael Morales Ascencio's Psychoanalytic Work

We had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Helí Rafael Morales Ascencio, the recipient of the 2020 Sigourney Award. The Sigourney Award, acknowledged as the most esteemed international honor in the psychoanalytic realm, carries a particular significance as it marks one of the few times this recognition was won by a Latin American psychoanalyst, more specifically, a psychoanalyst from Mexico.

In our conversation with Dr. Helí Morales, we delved into his psychoanalytic journey and the multiple significant projects that led to his well-deserved recognition. His pioneering efforts are focused on addressing the lack of institutional psychoanalytic services for low-income communities in Mexico. Linked to this work, he earned acknowledgment for his innovative approach in conceptualizing the emotional suffering of survivors of violence and their families in Mexico through a psychoanalytic lens and proposing ways to provide support.

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Dr. Helí Morales embarked on a trajectory that led him to become profoundly involved in the field of psychoanalysis. Armed with a background in social psychology, he pursued two master's degrees—the first in psychoanalytic theory at Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Psicoanalíticos in Mexico City and the second in psychoanalysis and the Freudian field at University Paris VIII. Dr. Morales then earned his PhD in philosophy and social sciences from L'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales à Paris, with a

specialization in epistemology, and completed a postdoctoral degr