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Witnessing and Passing. Discussion of Prince's “The Self in Pain: The Paradox of Memory. The Paradox of Testimony”

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Abstract

The author indicates that she has two voices. One voice speaks to the patient's loneliness and detachment and her expectation to not be seen, believed, or acknowledged. This voice, housing the knowledge that events that remain unprocessed continue to have an impact, wants Dr. Prince to risk intrusion and preemption. This voice believes that it is worth it. The author's other voice considers bottomless wounds and speaks to the patient's need to build up healthy aspects of personality that is necessary to do the holocaust work. This voice holds that this is not the time for Dr. Prince to witness what happened to the patient, what the perpetrators of massive crimes did to her or what the onlookers saw and chose not to do. This voice says that the patients lead should be followed. The author elaborates on her two voices and indicates what she would have done had she been working with the patient.

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References

  • Alpert, J.L. (August, 2007). Presidential address. Invited paper presented to Division 56 (Trauma Psychology) at the convention of the American Psychological Association.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Dr. Prince for providing such a rich case. I found myself writing many different papers in response to his: one each about memory, self, testimony, transference/countertransference, gender in the analytic dyad, and dissociation/doubling. In the end I decided to write about the issue which wouldn’t go away—the issue of analytic stance or what would I do if Elsa were my patient.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 175 West 12th Street, Apartment 15D, New York, 10011, NY

    Judith L Alpert

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  1. Judith L Alpert
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This paper was first presented as the inaugural colloquium of the Specialization Training in Trauma and Disaster Studies of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy on January 25, 2008 and again as part of a panel at the Division 39 Convention “Viva Psychoanalysis” in San Antonio, Texas on April 25, 2009.

1Professor, Department of Applied Psychology, faculty and supervisor, Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York University. Dr. Alpert maintains a private practice in New York City.

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Alpert, J. Witnessing and Passing. Discussion of Prince's “The Self in Pain: The Paradox of Memory. The Paradox of Testimony”. Am J Psychoanal 69, 291–297 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2009.20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2009.20

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