Morris Nitsun 1943–2022

I have had the privilege of being a supervisee of Morris for the last eight years. This period included my training as a group analyst. In common with Morris, I have a particular commitment to working with marginalized communities, understanding the complexities of the sexual realm, as well as, the impact of structural and systemic oppression. Morris supported and encouraged me in building theory and developing concepts about homophobic trauma, including the devasting impact this has on many gay men during their childhood and adolescence, and the psychotherapeutic needs of gay men consequently. Morris was pivotal in assisting me to develop a working definition of homophobia and how it impacts on the psychological development of gay men at various points during their earlier life stages. We discussed the presentation of gay men in our clinics and practices in terms of their psychological difficulties and felt that many of their issues can be attributed, largely, to the impact of homophobic trauma rather than anything that is innate. This is largely due to gay men having to manage a wide range of traumatizing negative responses from very young ages, including the betrayal by their families and communities. This betrayal ranges from ostracism to extreme violence and rejection from those who are meant to care about them. The more damaging impacts of these attitudes occur at points in the early developmental stages of gay men when they do not have a mature psychic apparatus with which to process and manage repeated and relentless homophobic trauma. I always found Morris supportive, firm and kind. His wisdom and ability to mentor was greatly valued as was his insight into my 1145416 GAQ0010.1177/05333164221145416Group AnalysisStevenson: Morris Nitsun obituary research-article2023