Wednesday, May 19, 2010; 07:30PM - 09:30PM
In the series Clinical Issues:
Unsilencing Trauma
Presented by Katherine B. Schwarzenbach, Ph.D.
Respondent(s): Michael Gellert, L.C.S.W.
The tragic story of Philomela in Ovid's "Metamorphoses" is a tale of rape and mutilation, wherein the victim is forever silenced when her rapist rips out her tongue. Philomela resourcefully weaves her experience into a tapestry, and justice is subsequently meted out. Similarly, our patients, silenced by trauma, weave their narratives in our offices, we analysts figuratively providing the looms whereon they spin their stories and recount their dreams. This
presentation delves briefly into the history of silencing, with particular
emphasis on feminist theory, even as it applies to men. Further, consideration is given to the transformation of trauma as an alternative to the reaction of
revenge. A brief case study will illustrate analytical work with a traumatized patient.
Course Objectives:
- Describe silencing from historical and mythological points of view
- Give an example of how the motif of being silenced affects patients who have experienced trauma
- Differentiate between revenge and transformation as responses to trauma
Katherine B. Schwarzenbach, Ph.D., is a Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis. She works with children, adults, and couples in private practice in Pasadena. She has a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature and brings her ongoing interest in literature and mythology to her clinical work and writing.
Michael Gellert, L.C.S.W., is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Los Angeles and Pasadena, and former Director of Training at the C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles. He is the author of Modern Mysticism, The Fate of America, and The Way of the Small.
