Archive for December, 2011
Adult State of Consciousness to Help Patients Release Trauma
Thursday, December 29th, 2011Psychotherapists use many different methods to facilitate recovery and integration of repressed trauma from intrinsic memory. I prefer the body centered desensitization technique to bring painful and frightening memories into conscious awareness and release the emotional charge on them, along with Voice Dialogue, journaling exercises and Inner Child work to […]
Psychological Integration
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011Less emphasized than catharsis in early psychoanalytic theory is the “working through” process native to all forms of psychotherapy that accomplishes the second step of psychological healing: the cognitive retraining required for integration of recovered memories into a mature and effective coping strategy for dealing with present and future stressful […]
Identification with the Aggressor
Thursday, December 15th, 2011Abused children tend to go on inflicting what they have suffered on themselves or others. Psychoanalysts described this behavior pattern as identification with the aggressor. If we look at the pattern adaptively as well as defensively, however, it might be regarded as a confused and self-destructive attempt to master the […]
Premature Uncovering
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011Therapy can jump the tracks if misguided and premature or aggressive attempts are made to uncover traumatic memories before a secure trusting relationship has been established with a severely abused patient and before the ego integrity of the patient has been adequately assessed. In Connie’s case in Chapter Six Of Big […]
Protective Presence
Thursday, December 8th, 2011Clinical observation of young children in London during World War II indicated that they could pass through prolonged and extreme stresses, like nightly bombing raids requiring that they be snatched from their beds and taken to air raid shelters, with little evidence of lasting trauma provided that they remained in the […]
Uncovering Traumatic Memories
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011For the recovery of traumatic memories from childhood to be truly healing, the basic requirement is a warm and safe therapeutic relationship structured with clear boundaries to minimize stress and prevent retraumatization. The intent is to allow the patient to revisit childhood in the very atmosphere of care and appropriate […]