Abstract
Discussing Dr. Robert Prince's clinical case example, the author presents a relational psychoanalytic perspective on working with the traumatized patient. She considers the presentation of his work with a Holocaust survivor from a relational perspective with particular attention to the dyadic interaction, the intersubjectivity and co-creations of patient and analyst, and finally, addresses the role of the “witness” in psychoanalytic work. The idea of the witness has particular currency in contemporary psychoanalytic thinking. The author briefly examines the dimensions of the “witness” from a relational point of view. Consideration is also given to the necessary distinction between adult onset and childhood onset trauma and the repercussions of each for the analytic couple.
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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 Post Doctoral 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.
1PhD, ABPP, Co-Chair, Relational Track, NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Chair, Specialization in Trauma and Disaster Studies, NYU Postdoctoral Program. Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, NYU Postdoctoral Program.
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Thomas, N. Which Horse do You Ride? Trauma from a Relational Perspective. Discussion of Prince's “The Self in Pain: The Paradox of Memory. The Paradox of Testimony”. Am J Psychoanal 69, 298–303 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2009.21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2009.21