Abuse
« Previous EntriesThe Case of Tommy Continued
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012At age 18 months when Tommy had his heart surgery, most children have attained secure object constancy but their notions of cause and effect are still primitive and magical. They cannot distinguish clearly between fantasy and reality. It is the stage of omnipotent wishes and fears. If toddlers want something and […]
The Case of Tommy Continued
Thursday, January 26th, 2012After hearing his story, I immediately suspected that Tommy had been misdiagnosed and that his underlying problem was Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The ages of his hospitalizations were key to his specific PTSD symptoms. At age 8 months when Tommy was first hospitalized, most babies have bonded to their mothers or […]
Developmental Issues
Thursday, January 5th, 2012In the last century, psychoanalysts and researchers into cognitive development made major contributions to our understanding of the child’s inner life at various developmental stages. I am fortunate to have received training and supervision from child analysts in the clinical application of these developmental principles. A working knowledge of child […]
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 […]
A Case of Dissociative Identity Disorder -continued
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011In just these brief vignettes to illustrate basic guidelines, the importance of a multidimensional perspective and the benefits of healing tools effective in each dimension become clear. Without medication in the Physical dimension to normalize Connie’s capacity to function, therapy would be disrupted by a series of emergency hospitalizations. Without […]
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