Into the Darkest Places: Early Relational Trauma and Borderline States of Mind

Into the Darkest Places: Early Relational Trauma and Borderline States of Mind
ISBN-10
0429915152
ISBN-13
9780429915154
Category
Psychology
Pages
360
Language
English
Published
2018-11-13
Publisher
Routledge
Author
Marcus West

Description

This book explores the roots of borderline states of mind in early relational trauma and shows how it is possible, and necessary, to visit 'the darkest places' in order to work through these traumas. This is despite the fact that re-experiencing such traumas is unbearable for the patient and they naturally want to enlist the analyst in ensuring that they will never be experienced again. This is the backdrop for the extreme pressures and roles that are constellated in the analysis that can lead to impasse or breakdown of the analytic relationship. The author explores how these areas can be negotiated safely and that, whilst drawing heavily on recent developments in attachment, relational, trauma and infant development theory, an analytic attitude needs to be maintained in order to integrate these experiences and allow the individual to feel, finally, accepted and whole. The book builds on Freud's views of repetition compulsion and re-enactment and develops Jung's concept of the traumatic complex.

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