‘To return, to eat, to tell the story ’: Primo Levi's lessons on living and dying in the aftermath of trauma
TL;DR: In this article, Primo Levi, the internationally esteemed citizen of Turin, Italy and survivor of the Auschwitz, instructs post 9/11 psychoanalysis in five lessons on living and dying in the aftermath of severe trauma.
Abstract: This article invites Primo Levi, the internationally esteemed citizen of Turin, Italy and survivor of the Auschwitz to instruct post 9/11 psychoanalysis in five lessons on living and dying in the aftermath of severe trauma Relying on excerpts from Levi's writings, the author invites Levi to speak to the reader words of warning concerning contemporary psychoanalysis' benign omnipotence in embracing overly simplistic theories of cure, resiliency and psychic repatriation of the human spirit in the aftermath of severe trauma
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01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the politics of self-affirmation in the context of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its relationship with neuroscience and the brain/mind.
Abstract: iv Preface: Meeting the Spirit in Despair 1 Chapter 1 Methodology 15 Undoing an Agenda 22 Critical Psychology 23 Feminist Poststructuralism 25 Deconstruction 29 Essentialism 30 Performativity and Experience 32 Experience and the Politics of Self-Affirmation 33 Poststructuralist Writing and Theorising 35 Grappling with a Taboo 37 Grappling with “the Data” 38 Disrupting the Subject 40 Ordered Disordered Unknowing 42 Chapter 2: A Brief Critical History of Trauma 45 Shell Shock and Hysteria 47 Hysteria and the Petromyzon 54 Male Hysteria 56 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Formal Diagnosis 65 Neuroscience and the Brain/Mind 68 Neural Plasticity, Stress and PTSD 71 Disorders of Extreme Stress 78 Relational Trauma 82 Implications for Therapists and Clients 87
12 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the relationships between three complementary levels of secrecy formation: the macro-level of cultural mediation, the mesoscopic level of family dynamics, and the microlevel of intra-psychological processes.
Abstract: In mainstream psychology, family secrets are usually discussed in terms of intra-psychological processes. However, the sense making of the family, which is a multilayered system, is mediated through culture. Hence, a complementary intersubjective perspective is inevitable for understanding secrecy formation. Merging psychoanalytic ideas with cultural-semiotic analysis, the current paper explores the relationships between three complementary levels of secrecy formation: the macro-level of cultural mediation, the mesoscopic-level of family dynamics, and the micro-level of intra-psychological processes. This perspective is developed and illustrated through an in-depth reading of Amir Gutfreund’s novel, Our Holocaust.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the notion of representation and trauma, taking into account their negative manifestation in the mind, as memories without representation in the face of massive trauma, so the experience remains unrepresented.
Abstract: The author explores the notion of representation and trauma, taking into account their negative manifestation in the mind, as memories without representation In the face of massive trauma, the mind deploys dissociative mechanisms, so the experience remains unrepresented Psychoanalytic technique has to expand its scope in order to meet-create these unrepresented forms Alongside our classic technique, the analyst needs to work in a particular way-one that involves a regressive state to preverbal, or even prerepresentational areas within the analyst, allowing him or her to gain access to the traumatic zones The integration of the trauma into the systems of representations depends on the possibility of the analyst to submit to a process of regression so as to offer a substrate on which hitherto unformed experience may assume form and become represented
1 citations
01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the politics of self-affirmation in the context of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its relationship with neuroscience and the brain/mind.
Abstract: iv Preface: Meeting the Spirit in Despair 1 Chapter 1 Methodology 15 Undoing an Agenda 22 Critical Psychology 23 Feminist Poststructuralism 25 Deconstruction 29 Essentialism 30 Performativity and Experience 32 Experience and the Politics of Self-Affirmation 33 Poststructuralist Writing and Theorising 35 Grappling with a Taboo 37 Grappling with “the Data” 38 Disrupting the Subject 40 Ordered Disordered Unknowing 42 Chapter 2: A Brief Critical History of Trauma 45 Shell Shock and Hysteria 47 Hysteria and the Petromyzon 54 Male Hysteria 56 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Formal Diagnosis 65 Neuroscience and the Brain/Mind 68 Neural Plasticity, Stress and PTSD 71 Disorders of Extreme Stress 78 Relational Trauma 82 Implications for Therapists and Clients 87
TL;DR: The paper refers to two main achievements of Ferenczi’s research: the consequences of the traumatic experience and of the disavowal of it, such as dissociation, fragmentation, psychic agony; and the focus on countertransference as emotional sharing and as receptiveness to the deep, unconscious and unspeakable communications, which can transfer to the psychoanalyst through somatic ways.
Abstract: Through the exposition of a clinical case, the author explores how a sexually abused woman can set up strategies for psychic survival to the feeling of catastrophe and how she can attempt to communicate and share it. The clinical case connects childhood sexual abuse trauma and the trauma of surviving concentration camps. The paper refers to two main achievements of Ferenczi’s research: (1) the consequences of the traumatic experience and of the disavowal of it, such as dissociation, fragmentation, psychic agony; and (2) the focus on countertransference as emotional sharing and as receptiveness to the deep, unconscious and unspeakable communications, which can transfer to the psychoanalyst through somatic ways.
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15 Nov 1988
TL;DR: In the half-century since his death, the Hungarian analyst Sandor Ferenczi has amassed an influential following within the psychoanalytic community as discussed by the authors, and his diary records self-critical reflections on conventional theory and his obstinate struggle to divest himself and psychoanalysis of professional hypocrisy.
Abstract: In the half-century since his death, the Hungarian analyst Sandor Ferenczi has amassed an influential following within the psychoanalytic community. During his lifetime Ferenczi, a respected associate and intimate of Freud, unleashed widely disputed ideas that influenced greatly the evolution of modern psychoanalytic technique and practice. In a sequence of short, condensed entries, Sandor Ferenczi's Diary records self-critical reflections on conventional theory--as well as criticisms of Ferenczi's own experiments with technique--and his obstinate struggle to divest himself and psychoanalysis of professional hypocrisy. From these pages emerges a hitherto unheard voice, speaking to his heirs with startling candor and forceful originality--a voice that still resonates in the continuing debates over the nature of the relationship in psychoanalytic practice.
421 citations
TL;DR: An expanded understanding of the universality of Orpha, its links to the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, as well as its relevance for present-day treatment of trauma is offered.
Abstract: Clearly, the myth of Oedipus provided the rhythmic pulse that gave psychoanalysis its first voice. The myth throbs with conflict, murderous aggression, incest, and guilt. The myth caused psychoanalysis to pulsate with these same themes, which Sigmund Freud developed into a metapsychology of psychoanalysis. However, Sandor Ferenczi gave psychoanalysis a contrasting, although not opposing, treatment-oriented voice. Ferenczi’s treatment-oriented voice is especially heard in his work with the traumatized American patient Elizabeth Severn, known as R.N. in The Clinical Diary (1932). In revisiting this landmark case I highlight not only Ferenczi’s voice, but also the voice of patient and clinician Elizabeth Severn, as well as the obscure and all too easily overlooked voice of a phenomenon they called “Orpha,” a lifeorganizing fragment of Severn’s personality. I offer an expanded understanding of the universality of Orpha, its links to the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, as well as its relevance for present-day treatment of trauma. In contrast to the myth of Oedipus, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice aches with separation, fragmentation, suffering from acts of violation, as well as attempts at reclamation motivated by love. These are themes in Ferenczi’s trial-and-error work with Severn. In the bright light of the current Ferenczi renaissance, it must not be forgotten that Ferenczi and Severn ultimately found the nature of trauma to be dark and unrelentingly complex. This analytic couple choreographed a complex treatment that attempted to balance the intersubjective-interpersonal world with the intrapsychic world; the possibility of real trauma with pathological fantasy; the need for a comforting preparatory treatment filled with empathy as well as a harsh “descent” into inconsolable sorrow over losses due to trauma; an analyst who must be muse, mother, and “undertaker”; and finally new psychic growth that can only be planted alongside of the permanent ruins left by trauma. Such a treatment reminds us both of the promise and the limits of our art and science.
32 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on three out-of-print books written by Severn, which until now have been overlooked in discussions of the patient Ferenczi called RN? in the Clinical Diary.
Abstract: This paper attempts to reassess Elizabeth Severn's place in the history of psychoanalysis. It does so by focusing on her three out of print books, which until now have been overlooked in discussions of the patient Ferenczi called ?RN? in the Clinical Diary. Her first two books, written in 1913 and 1917, provide the reader with valuable glimpses into what was the pre-analytic mind and person of Elizabeth Severn before she began what would be a ground breaking eight year analysis with Ferenczi. A key to understanding Elizabeth Severn, her writings, as well as many of our traumatized patients lies in a what Ferenczi and Severn called ?Orpha?. The paper suggests that an appreciation of this obscure phenomenon is critical in the treatment of trauma. After investigating her first two books in light of Orpha, the paper will compare and contrast them with her last book, The Discovery of Self, written toward the end of her analysis, and published shortly after Ferenczi's death in 1933. The tone, texture and conten...
19 citations
Journal Article•
9 citations