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HEALING
TRAUMA AND DISSOCIATION: RE-MEMBERING DIONYSUS
P.O. B. 149, Timrat 36576 Israel. Tel. 972+50+5512534, Key words: Trauma,
Dissociation, Dionysus, Kalsched, Analysis Abstract This case study – described in
deference to Kalsched's doctrine on the inner world
of trauma (1996) - is based on analytic psychotherapy with a young woman
suffering from dissociative disorder, stemming from
early childhood traumas. The contents and dynamics of the treatment are reflected
symbolically in the myth of Dionysus, both in the origins of trauma and the
defense-survival reaction, described by Kalsched as
the archetypal self-care system. The connection between Dionysus, trauma and
dissociation transpired when the patient desperately described the dissociative phenomena which were haunting her. The fantasies
concerning dismemberment and cannibalism of her baby child by her own hands
were particularly terrifying. An examination of the symbolic meanings of
these visions brought to mind the legendary scene from the mythological
narrative, where Agave and her mates
dismember her son Pentheus in frantic fury.
Dionysus also personifies the archetypal principle of reintegration –
namely, the potential for rejoining the dissociated fragments of the psyche. Introduction Irit (altered
name), a young woman of 30, experienced prior to the described treatment a
severe crisis, accompanied by feelings of anxiety and dissociation at the
somatic level (de-personalization) and experiential level (de-realization).
The symptomatic picture was one of dissociative
disorder and fear that she was going mad. As the youngest of seven children
in a family of immigrants, her father was killed in a road accident when she
was 3 years old. Six months later her eldest sister suddenly became ill and
died. She remembered both incidents only dimly. Her mother had little time to
look after her before and after the father’s death, and hence her
eldest sister became the surrogate parental figure. When her father
disappeared one day from her life she was told: 'Dad has gone to work and
won't come back'. She experienced the disappearance of her sister likewise.
As a young girl Irit was introverted and lonely.
She tended to engage in creative handiwork, which her mother belittled. At the age of 15 she started drifting about,
indiscriminately acquainting and forming relations with elder men. The Archetypal
self-care system
“The self-care system seems to
carry out its ‘purposes’ through two mechanisms – a
preservative effort involving self-hypnosis and encapsulation of a
pre-traumatic regressed part-self on the one hand, and a destructive,
dismembering activity, involving aggression in the service of dissociation on
the other. Encapsulation seems to be a process through which
‘good’ self-states are preserved and isolated from ‘bad’
self-states, while dissociation is the mechanism by which the split
compartments of the mind are maintained and amnesia barriers erected among
them” (Kalsched, 2003). The first year During the first months of treatment Irit was frightened and worried she would be found
psychotically ill. She underwent murderous and devouring fantasies; that she
was about to strangle her child with a pillow, cut his body into pieces with
a kitchen knife and grind them in a food blender. Sometimes she imagined
swallowing the cut pieces. The fantasies of chopping and castrating her son
often assumed ceremonial dimensions. She had difficulties functioning and was
afraid that I would hospitalize her. Some of the thoughts of dismemberment
were also directed at the analyst and had to be dealt with in the context of
transference. As explained by Kalsched
(2003), the demonic forces focused mainly on her child, represent the
archetypical defenses, which by means of dissociative
splits attempt to ensure that the essence of her personality - the core of
the inner child within her - be protected against traumatic fear. In dreams
and fantasies of patients suffering from dissociative
conditions, this personal spirit sometimes assumes the image of a baby or
child. Ferenczi, who encountered similar mental
images in the dreams of his patients, defined this phenomenon as an
archetypal representation of the Wise Child (Fortune 2003). When an infant's
developing psyche is traumatized, the fear for survival threatens the
continued existence of its personal spirit. Destruction must be prevented at
all cost, and hence, as Winnicott (1960) pointed
out, a primitive defense mechanism starts operating in order to prevent
traumatic dread. The Wise Child – representing the spiritual center of
the indestructible self - is an analogous image of the Holy Child derived
from Greek mythology, meaning the god-child Dionysus (a name connoting "born
twice"), whose conception, birth and childhood were rooted in trauma and
in desperate efforts to save his inner basic core. Dionysus' life and actions
as a mature god demonstrate in a symbolic manner the attempt to cope with and
reintegrate the dissociative splits of his
personality, stemming from the dismemberment traumas which he experienced as
infant before and after his birth, and then during his childhood. It may be assumed that the polarized splits
in the multi-faceted personality of Dionysus derive from the confusion of
identities related to the twofold birth from his mother's womb and his
father's thigh, and his disguise during childhood as a girl. His traumatic
birth, life story and growth to manhood, are archetypal manifestations of the
personal spirit and post-traumatic dissociative
splits, as well as the hope for re-integration of the fragmented parts. Kalsched (1996) advocates
'softer' techniques for severe trauma patients. In his opinion the common
interpretations and reconstructions should be combined with the
“creation of a safe interpersonal environment, within which dreams and
fantasies can emerge and be worked with in a more playful, open-ended
fashion….” Images of split compartments and barriers appeared in Irit's earlier dreams, symbolizing dissociative
processes, as well as symbolic expressions of the 'negative mother complex'
(the Terrible Mother archetype), as against images of a basically positive
animus³. Individuation, integration, freedom from burden, and dilemmas related to
growing-up were reflected in Irit's dreams
throughout this period. Example: "I am in a place with
many people, all of whom have dentures on their natural teeth, like a crown
slipped on each tooth to protect it. I, too, have such crowns on my teeth.
They cause terrible pressure in my mouth and my head and I want to get rid of
them. I arrive at the dental clinic with all the others in order
to remove these crowns. I am
waiting for my turn but feel I must rid myself of the crowns, otherwise I'll
die of the pressure and pain they are causing, and I start to remove them
from every tooth despite the pain, and
suddenly I swallow a crown by mistake and I'm frightened". In this initial
dream, Irit unconsciously signals the main issues
to be resolved in her analysis: The need to release the confining, though
protective, shield of the inner core of the regressed child’s true
self. The process (of analysis) must be paced and monitored 'by the clinic'
(the analyst), otherwise the danger exists of being swallowed into a uroboric cycle of regression. We gradually came to understand that Irit’s destructive fantasies were a symbolic expression
of the self-care system, a kind of dissociation that had been forming a
mechanism of archetypal split since her childhood. In her adult life,
whenever anxiety set on, the struggle for survival was projected by her
imagination into the dissociative fantasy of
dismembering her son. Second year Irit noticed a
reduced frequency of her destructive dissociations. During this period she
had about seventy dreams. Example: "I bring my son to the
kindergarten, leave the kindergarten and walk to the swimming pool. I jump
into the deep water and cannot get out. At last I succeed". Her sensations
during the dream were those of choking. She was relieved when she managed to
break loose. The pool in her dream can be perceived as the unconscious psyche
containing the archetypal self-care system with its opposite poles: diving
into deep water - the protective encapsulating and purifying aspect of water
- while protecting the regressed inner child (personal spirit), placing him
(her son) in safety (kindergarten), as against the danger of being devoured
(drowning) and annihilated by the aggressive aspect of the self-care system.
This dream can also be viewed as a hazardous, yet successful attempt, to cope
with the threats on the fragile ego. In the myth of
Dionysus, diving into deep water represents the danger of definite extinction.
His aunt and stepmother Ino, and her
daughter, jump off the cliff to their death into the sea), as well as a
sanctuary and maternal shelter from which he can depart and return to after
each epic journey (he also flees from the fury of Lycurgus
and finds protection at Tethys, wife
of Oceanus, ‘ruler of many seas and rivers’). Personification
of the animus was a central theme in Irit's dreams
throughout this year. The issues that came up during treatment were generally
linked to the figure of the missing father and to a negative animus complex.
The transference dynamics in the analysis were also reflected in her dreams,
where the therapist was sometimes perceived as possessing Dionysian-like
characteristics. In several of her dreams the analyst’s image was
associated with erotic contents, which in turn enabled our discussion about
"unthinkable" matters such as her transference projections and her
view of male figures as either good and pure, or
totally evil, lustful, and possessed by their shadows. She also dreamt about
infants and children in conflicting and ambivalent situations, sometimes
exposed to hardships and hazards. These dreams, again, could signal the
mobilization of a coping effort in her psyche. Jung (1990) wrote in this vein:
"Abandonment, exposure, danger etc., are all elaborations of the
'child's insignificant beginnings and of its mysterious and miraculous
birth". Third year During the third year of treatment Irit seemed tired most of the time and complained about
insomnia. In an attempt to grasp the symbolic significance of the strange and
monstrous figures that appeared in her mind and dreams, it was suggested that
the demons represented one of the figures which had traumatized her during. childhood. At this point
came to light the dynamics of the archetypal self-care system which enters
into action when triggered by unknown association with the original trauma.
In order to release her from the demon's unyielding clasp, she had to
recognize that the demon was her own and part of her psyche. The release was lastly
facilitated by dealing with the transference, mainly by its elaboration in
her dreams. Example: "I am waiting for our
regular meeting and you arrive, supported by someone, and looking like an old
man of 80. You are shaking all over and I can't understand what has happened
to you. Your teeth chatter and you tremble as if of old age". In the
associations to her dream, she said: "An old man is a wise man and this
is also a sign that you won't leave me but stay with me for a long
time". After the third
year of treatment, by means of her dreams and on the background of the
transference love-hate relationship with the therapist, a process began to
unfold which can be described as an attempt to reach a Dionysian mediation
between the fragmented parts of her personality. The process, painful both for
the patient and for the analyst, was accompanied by emotions of anger and
suffering. Gradually, however, the capability for enduring these feelings was
built, enabling Irit’s self to provide her
ego with genuine experiences of calmer relations. Fourth year During the fourth year of treatment
there was a gradual moderation in Irit's dissociative fantasies and their frequency
decreased. After a while she became
pregnant again, unplanned. As soon as she had learned about her pregnancy and
that she was carrying a daughter (her second), the dissociative
anxieties reappeared. After giving birth she felt a significant repose and
her dissociative symptoms diminished almost
completely. Toward the conclusion of her treatment, the so-called "Second
Lebanon War" broke out in northern Irit spoke in a
retrospective mood about the process she had gone through, describing her
treatment as the most meaningful event she had ever experienced and as
something that had "saved her life". To her mind, despite the
prolonged therapy, it would not have been possible to achieve these results
without such in-depth work. She talked about a renewed sense of control over
her daily life and of the very rare cases when a slight feeling of
dissociation would appear, such as during the alarm of sirens, which did not
bring back anxieties but rather a sense of security, as if some personal
defense system was entering into motion Summary and
conclusions The myth of Dionysus personifies the
Archetypal Self-care System, described by Kalsched
as a system that enters into action in traumatic situations. “If trauma
is to be healed in psychotherapy”, says Kalsched
(2003), “the original abuse dynamics must be replayed in the
transference in order to be symbolized and worked through. The process of psychotherapy
involves a constant struggle with the daimonic. Our
goal is to mediate volcanic affect, metabolize violent fantasies, and help
ground and humanize the most angelic idealizations as well as the most
demonic diabolizations”. The conception of Dionysus, his parentage
and childhood, are replete with repeated traumas. Again and again he is
abandoned by motherly figures that meet a cruel end or go mad. After the
tragic death of his mother he continues his fetal growth in some kind of
masculine phallic womb of a god who represents a powerful archetype, but with
the characteristics of a caring and compassionate father. On his birth he is
torn into shreds by the Titans, an act defined by Lopez Pedraza
(2000) as “a psyche in pieces”. The traumas of dismemberment,
first when torn from his mother's womb and then by the Titans, are later
reflected in his grown-up personality and its many contradicting faces. The
masks of Dionysus represent symbolically the dissociative
splits characterizing his deeds and rituals. From the start one can sense the
destructive, violent and furious titanic-demonic means, thrown against the
immense forces encircling and protecting the core personal spirit. The Holy/Wise
Child in the masculine womb of Zeus protects against the destructive forces
of fire, dismemberment and persecution. These two archetypal representations
alternate in the various tales about his life. As a consequence, mishaps of
demonic outbursts and numinous forces take place; deep collective powers of
the psyche versus the weaker and vulnerable components of the ego. Dionysus,
as the Holy Child archetype is the motherless orphan. As adult he continues
to relive the traumas of his painful childhood whenever he feels ignored,
attacking with vengeful repetition those who seem to endanger his spiritual
existence and who refuse to accept him. He possesses dark sides and is at
home in the underworld into which he descends and wherefrom he returns again
and again. All this occurs along with lighter and more pleasant sides, yet meaningful
in a cultural sense, compassionate and understanding. Dionysus, as a daimon, symbolizes in his ritual and life story the
dynamism which mediates between the mad negative fragmentation and the
positive dimension of compassion and concern for accompanying human figures
(representing ego components). The contradiction is evident in the struggle
between acceptance vs. rejection of Dionysus and his cult, in the sense of embracing
the other, strange and alien soul, and its internalization. The
entire essence of Dionysus is the bridging between the divine and the human,
the numinous and the mundane, consciousness versus unconsciousness, ego and
outer reality. This, indeed, is his life assignment and in this sense the
Dionysian myth reflects the archetype of the re-integrative, reconstructive
principle. In his basic energetic state, Dionysus has two facets: the
maddening and the curing of madness. Thus he is an expression of the
collective archetype of trauma, dissociation and re-integration. The
transformative relations, treatment techniques and therapist's aptitudes are
the Temenos in which the Dionysian drama of the
post-traumatic patient must be enacted. When this happens there is a good
chance that the patient's need for dissociative protection
and tormenting fantasies of dismemberment and destruction will cease. References Fortune, C.
(2003). The analytic nursery: Ferenczi's ‘wise baby’ meets Jung's
‘divine child’. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 48,
457–466. Jung, C.G.
(1990). The Archetypes and the collective unconscious, CW 9i, par.
285. Kalsched, D. (2003). Daimonic elements in early trauma. Journal of Analytical
Psychology, 48, 145-159. Kalsched, D. (1996). The
inner world of trauma. Archetypal defenses of the personal spirit. Lopez-Pedraza, R. (2000). Dionysus in exile. On the
repression of the body and emotion. Winnicott, D.W. (1960).The
theory of the parent-infant relationship. International Journal of Psychoanalysis,
41, 585-595. Index: Analysis, Archetypal
self-care system, Dionysus, Dissociation, Dreams, Kalsched,
Myth, Trauma, |
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