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TRAUMA AND THE DISRUPTION OF TEMPORAL EXPERIENCE: A PSYCHOANALYTICAL AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

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Abstract

A deep understanding of the subjective experience of time in traumatized individuals may require a comprehensive framework that takes into account both psychoanalytic and phenomenological contributions. Referring to the retroactive interpretation of past experiences, the concept of Nachträglichkeit is critical to analyze how trauma can be signified in the form of the après-coup, in which the original traces of traumatic experiences are signified only at a later time. Trauma alters the temporal sequence of past, present, and future, thus leaving the psyche in a time-shifted dimension, where the shadow of the past extends over the present, and the unbearable present hinders growth and development. A clinical vignette is presented to illustrate how trauma can disrupt the temporal nature of subjective experience by reshaping the meaning of psychic events. Ultimately, trauma treatment aims at inscribing the person’s experience into a unified and coherent self-narrative.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Humanities, University of Calabria, Via Ponte Bucci Cubo 18/C, 87036, Rende, Italy

    Selene Mezzalira

  2. Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, UKE - Kore University of Enna, Piazza dell’Università, 94100, Enna, Italy

    Gianluca Santoro

  3. Department of Humanities, University of Calabria, Via Ponte Bucci Cubo 18/C, 87036, Rende, Italy

    Vincenzo Bochicchio

  4. Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, UKE - Kore University of Enna, Piazza dell’Università, 94100, Enna, Italy

    Adriano Schimmenti

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  1. Selene Mezzalira
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Correspondence to Selene Mezzalira.

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Address correspondence to Dr. Selene Mezzalira, Department of Humanities, University of Calabria, Via Ponte Bucci Cubo 18/C, Rende, Italy 87036. E-mail: selene.mezzalira@unical.it

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Mezzalira, S., Santoro, G., Bochicchio, V. et al. TRAUMA AND THE DISRUPTION OF TEMPORAL EXPERIENCE: A PSYCHOANALYTICAL AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. Am J Psychoanal 83, 36–55 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-023-09395-w

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