Enduring Trauma Through the Life Cycle

This is a multi-authored book on the complex subject of psychic trauma as encountered at different stages of the life-cycle, and describes some of the clinical challenges, technical issues and differing theoretical approaches that arise when working with the traumatized individual.The concept of psychic trauma is a complex subject, but one which has more recently gained prominence. This book contains a collection of papers which grew out of a series of talks given by the Psychoanalytic Forum of the British Psychoanalytical Society entitled Trauma Through the Life Cycle. The authors, all highly respected authorities in their fields, give insights into what we mean by psychic trauma, what constitutes a traumatic event, and the psychopathological sequelae to trauma at different stages of life. Judith Trowell and Nick Midgley look at the effects of infantile and childhood traumas. Catalina Bronstein and Sara Flanders, from differing psychoanalytic perspectives consider how childhood traumas can become reactivated in adolescence and colour subsequent developmental situations. Ron Britton and Joanne Stubley consider the effects of trauma on time and memory, the concept of Nachtralichkeit, and Britton makes the distinction between endogenous and exogenous aspects of trauma. Arturo Varchevker and Isky Gordon consider what factors may be intrinsically traumatic for the person reaching old age, illness or death. Francis Grier considers a more recently acknowledged source of trauma, which is the hidden nature of the cumulative trauma of the child who is sent away early to boarding school and its effects on the developing adult's capacity for intimate couple relationships. Finally, Michael Brierley and Nicholas Stargardt both write convincingly on societal traumas, Brierley on the social and cultural traumas endured by the native American Indian tribe, the Crow, and how individual experiences resonated with group experiences, and the historian, Stargardt on his ground-breaking work on the experiences of German children during the Second World War.

Table of Contents:
Introduction -- Childhood -- The emotional impact of abusive experiences in childhood, particularly sexual abuse -- “A soul in bondage”: the treatment of an abused latency-age boy -- Adolescence -- Nobody died! trauma in adolescence -- What's so traumatic about adolescence? -- Adulthood -- External danger and internal threat -- The Kraken awakens: the re-emergence of traumatic experiences when defences break down -- Older Age -- Trauma in old age: “passengers, next station is old age—are you ready?” -- Immortality versus mortality: why are the elderly different? -- Trauma and the Couple -- The hidden traumas of the young boarding school child as seen through the lens of adult couple therapy -- Trauma and Society -- A German trauma?: the experience of the Second World War in Germany -- Social trauma -- Trauma in culture and society

About the Author :
Eileen McGinley is a Member of the British Psychoanalytical Society, and works as a psychoanalyst in private practice in London. She was previously Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy at the Maudsley Hospital. She is an active member of the BPAS where she has been the Honorary Secretary of the Scientific Committee, Editor of the Bulletin and member of the organising committee of the EPFF 2 and 3. She is currently a member of the Curriculum Committee. She co-edited with Arturo Varchevker two other books in the Life Cycle series, Enduring Loss: Mourning, Depression, and Narcissism Through the Life Cycle (Karnac, London 2010), and Enduring Migration Through the Life Cycle (Karnac, London 2012). Arturo Varchevker is a Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society where he developed and chairs the Psychoanalytic Forum. He teaches in the UK and abroad and his main area of interest in psychoanalysis is internal migration and psychic change. He is a marital and family therapist with a special interest in domestic violence and the impact of migration. He has edited with Edith Hargreaves In Pursuit of Psychic Change; the Betty Joseph Workshop (East Sussex, Brunner-Routledge) and with Eileen McGinley two other books in the Psychoanalytic Forum series, Enduring Loss: Mourning, Depression and Narcissism Through the Life Cycle (Karnac, London 2010), and Enduring Migration Through the Life Cycle (Karnac, London 2012).

Review :
'Edited by Eileen McGinley and Arturo Varchevker, Enduring Trauma Through the Life Cycle is a collection of fine clinical papers that follow a psychic theme and its vicissitudes through the life cycle. This volume offers to the clinician and also the interested layman many insights into the various ways in which traumatic experiences are lodged in the mind and then, as life goes on, become re-activated in subsequent events. This is an outstanding book.'- Edna O'Shaughnessy, Distinguished Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society'This important book is at the cutting edge of current psychoanalytic thinking about trauma and its effects on the mind. I found it moving to read. The humanity of the authors shines through, as does the sophistication of their thinking about this complex subject. Rich in clinical detail, the book illuminates differences in technique and theory in a very useful way.' - Sally Weintrobe, Fellow of the Institute of Psychoanalysis in London