January 4, 2019 - 11:30 am to 1:00 pm CFPS Library - 900 Lovett, Houston, TX 77006

Jean Goodwin, MD

Sequelae of Massive Trauma

Based on Kay Souter’s psychohistorical examinations, Bion’s theories were informed by his horrific experiences as a teenage tank commander during World War I. Bion not only described how trauma affects the psyche through attacks on thinking and linking, he also applied his insights to the infant-mother relationship, emphasizing the necessity of intermind experiences for psychic survival. Years later, Samuel Gerson built on object relational conceptions of trauma after observing Holocaust survivors and their children. He described how massive trauma resulted in the collapse of the transitional space and contributed to the intergenerational transmission of trauma. Both articles emphasize the essential role of witnessing to sustain life after severe trauma.