Object Relations in Severe Trauma: Psychotherapy of the Sexually Abused Child

by Stephen Prior

Overview

Building upon the theoretical work of Ferenczi, Fairbairn, and Berliner, the author describes four basic relational patterns in the lives of abused children: the reliving of abusive relationships, either as victim or as perpetrator; identification with the aggressor; masochistic self-blame; and the seeking of object contact though sex or violence. The interweaving of these patterns creates what Dr. Prior calls 'relational dilemmas.' According to him, these four basic relational patterns are held in place by the child's profound fear of falling into primitive states of unrelatedness and consequent annihilation anxiety. For example, the abused child believes that victimization by or identification with the bad object, no matter how horrible that may be, is preferable to the psychic disintegration that complete nonrelatedness creates. Dilemmas of this nature tear apart the child's psyche, leading to unstable and tormented models of self, other, and relationship. Object Relations in Severe Trauma provides sensitive understanding of childhood traumatization and a conceptual and technical framework for the treatment of patients—both children and adults—who have suffered from it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461629801
Publisher:	Aronson, Jason Inc.
Publication date:	10/05/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	204
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Stephen Prior holds doctorates in both philosophy and psychology. After receiving his degree in psychology, he worked extensively with seriously disturbed children. Currently he is in private practice with adults and children in the greater Boston area.

Table of Contents

	Preface	vii
	Acknowledgments	xi
1	Introduction	1
2	Trauma and Tragedy	17
	Joey	20
	Fred	23
3	On the Absence of an Adequate Theory	29
	The Conceptual Setting	31
	Borderline Children	33
	The Changing Conceptual Framework	42
	Attempts at Integration	51
4	Relational Dilemmas of Abused Children	59
	Relentless Reliving of Victim-Victimizer Experiences	62
	Identification with the Aggressor	64
	Perverse Object Contact	68
	Self-Blame	70
	Possession	73
5	Internalized Models of Relationship	79
	Psychic Structure	82
	Masochism, Perversion, and the Need for Relatedness	84
	Attachment Theory's Perspective on Internalized Object Relations	88
	On the Function of Negative Introjects in the Psyche	93
	Theoretical Summary	104
6	Where Is Trauma in Traditional Theory?	107
7	The Dilemma of Therapy and the Uses of Violence	125
8	A Case Study	139
9	Summary	165
Appendix	Contraindications	171
	References	175
	Index	185

Editorial Reviews

Object Relations in Severe Trauma provides the unusual amalgamation of solid scholarship, sound theoretical development, and detailed case examples of treatment of the seriously disturbed and traumatized child. Drawing from both his psychotherapeutic treatment of seriously disturbed boys who suffered multiple forms of neglect and abuse and from the work of Fairbain, Berliner, and Ekstein, Prior delineates an object relational theory of the consequences of the sexual traumatization of children that has implications for therapy. Students and practitioners will benefit from the illustrations of the psychological response to trauma in terms of the repetition of abusive patterns of relationship, identification with the aggressor, self-blame, and the seeking of object contact through sexuality or violence. This is probably one of the most valuable books for clinicians who provide therapy to sexually abused children from multi-problem families.

Judith L. Allpert

Object Relations in Severe Trauma provides the unusual amalgamation of solid scholarship, sound theoretical development, and detailed case examples of treatment of the seriously disturbed and traumatized child. Drawing from both his psychotherapeutic treatment of seriously disturbed boys who suffered multiple forms of neglect and abuse and from the work of Fairbain, Berliner, and Ekstein, Prior delineates an object relational theory of the consequences of the sexual traumatization of children that has implications for therapy. Students and practitioners will benefit from the illustrations of the psychological response to trauma in terms of the repetition of abusive patterns of relationship, identification with the aggressor, self-blame, and the seeking of object contact through sexuality or violence. This is probably one of the most valuable books for clinicians who provide therapy to sexually abused children from multi-problem families.--Judith L. Allpert

From the Publisher