British Object Relations

Fourth Year Adult Psychoanalytic Training (APT)
2022-23, 1st Trimester — Fridays, 3:30-5:00pm
Stan Case, LICSW PhD
Judy K. Eekhoff, PhD

View Whole Syllabus

November 18, 2022 — Primitive Terrors and Protective Mechanisms

[43 pages]

Primitive trauma can result from premature exposure to separations and losses experienced by the infant at a somatopsychic level. Untransformed by a mind that can mentalize them, unbearable and unborn states of mind turn to primitive mechanisms for psychic survival. Protective maneuvers such as autosensual cocoons, enactive memories, body memories, and memories in feelings encapsulate or evacuate the terror of a catastrophic psychological birth.

Mitrani, J. (1995). “Toward an Understanding of Unmentalized Experience,” in A Framework for the Imaginary. Northvale, N.J.: Aronson pp205-247