Dr. Alina V. (Ciobotaru) Enista

While her memory will live on forever, Dr. Alina Enista died on July 28th, 2023. She will, most importantly, be remembered by her six grandchildren for a smattering of reasons. Her grandson, Hunter (10), will remember how happy she made his mother and that he took his first steps at her house. His sister, Logan (8), will always remember how much she smiled and how she loved to play with her. Hunter and Logan’s parents, Maya Enista Smith and Dave Smith, will keep her memory alive every day. Luca (7), her grandson, will remember hanging out with her and sharing coffee cake with her. His sister, Juliet (5), will also fondly remember the coffee cake moments and how much she loved her. The youngest of the children, Max and Zoe (2), will grow up hearing the folklore of Alina Enista from their parents, Duncan and Katie Enista.

Dr. Alina Enista was a curious, tenacious, warm, adventurous optimist who turned her love of people and the world into many successful chapters in her eighty years. She was born November 2nd, 1942 in Moldova. An accomplished handball player, she studied literature in Bucharest, Romania. She became a well-known television news journalist in Romania, and she immigrated to the United States in 1973 (with brief stops in Kuwait and India). She believed people were endlessly fascinating and would spend her life, personally and professionally, supporting them. She earned her PhD in Psychoanalysis from the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies (CMPS).

As a psychoanalyst in private practice in New Jersey and New York, as well as a professor at the Academy for Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis (ACAP) as well as the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies (CMPS), she wrote, practiced, and taught extensively. Her favorite pro bono patients were her children, especially during their teenage years, and the hole left in our lives will be unfillable but luckily, we have thousands of unbillable hours to rely on with our favorite therapist, and Mom. She has been published countless times, including novels in Romanian and peer reviewed research in English and she was proud of the countless other languages she could speak, heal, and laugh in.

Alina, or Bica and Buni as her grandchildren called her, will be remembered for saving lives, making people feel seen, turning strangers to friends and building community everywhere she went. While Alina did love flowers, she loved mental health more. In lieu of flowers, please join us in continuing her life’s work of making sure that everyone feels safe talking about their mental health and getting the support they need by donating to Find Your Anchor by clicking here.