BUSSW Alum Receives 2026 Social Work Grant Award from Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute
Boston University School of Social Work alum Sama Sarraj, LCSW (SSW ’25), currently a social work fellow at Cambridge Health Alliance’s Program for Psychotherapy, recently received the 2026 Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute’s (BPSI) Social Work Grant Award.
The award includes a partnership with the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute, where recipients receive mentorship from a social work psychoanalyst and access to continuing education opportunities to support professional development.
As part of the award, Sarraj attended the American Psychoanalytic Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, an experience she described as illuminating for understanding current conversations in the field — including the gaps she hopes to help address. She said engaging with practitioners and scholars reinforced her interest in examining how sociopolitical factors shape individual experience and inform treatment for vulnerable populations.
In her current position, Sarraj provides long-term psychodynamic treatment in her hospital’s outpatient psychiatry department. After attending the annual meeting, she noted, “It was exciting to meet like-minded individuals from all walks of life who share my passion for both psychodynamic therapy and social justice,” she said.