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Many years ago, as a postdoctoral fellow, I had the incredible experience of receiving clinical supervision from Stuart Pizer. Over the course of the year, he came to see that clinical work was only one side of my dueling passions. Stuart sensed my craving for academic and interdisciplinary play—bringing philosophy, theology, and history into conversation with how we think about human identity, suffering, and potential. During one of our supervisions, Stuart inquired, “If you could sit with any living person and learn from them, who might that be?” My response was immediate: “Donna Orange!” Quite nonchalantly, and with a glimmer in his eye, he simply said, “Why don’t you reach out to her? She’s right in New York.” I laughed, thinking this wasn’t a serious remark. He replied, “Why not?” I sat with this for a while and finally summoned the courage. I wrote a fairly conventional fanboy email, expecting either no reply or a perfunctory, gracious response. Instead, Donna wrote back within an hour and asked when I would next be in New York so that we might sit together. I was dumbfounded and rearranged things to make a trip the following month.
Quite nervous, I entered Donna’s private practice (which also doubled as her apartment) and immediately received my first dose of what Elizabeth Corpt perfectly describes as Donna’s “loving fierceness.” She was deeply attuned, curious, and caring. I could feel her attending in such a proximal way. Then, I shared with her that I, too, loved Emmanuel Levinas and had written my dissertation and first book on the application of his work to psychology. With a knowing look, she said: “Of course. I’ve read The Demanded Self (Goodman, 2012). It’s not bad. Though, your Levinas is too religious. But I’m glad you are trying. It’s worthwhile.” It stung at first. But I could somehow still feel her care. At the moment, it was a confusing juxtaposition of profound attunement and warmth alongside brutal transparency.
I came to expect this from Donna