Telling the Story: Before and After

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Trauma Studies
• Psychoanalysis

Background:

• This article serves as a follow-up to a previous publication on lifelong incest experiences.
• It addresses the personal and professional challenges encountered when disclosing incestuous experiences within a therapeutic context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explain the author's process of beginning to write about personal incest experiences.
• To illustrate the concept of empathic failure in psychoanalysis using a specific case.
• To recount unanticipated life events following the publication of the initial paper.

Main Methods:

• Autoethnographic narrative.
• Reflective analysis of psychoanalytic therapy.
• Chronological recounting of post-publication events.

Main Results:

• The author initiated writing about incest experiences, confronting personal and therapeutic obstacles.
• An instance of empathic failure by the analyst was identified.
• Significant and unforeseen life events occurred after the initial paper's publication.

Conclusions:

• Disclosing incestuous trauma can be a complex process, even within psychoanalysis.
• Empathic failure in therapy can impede the processing of deeply rooted trauma.
• Personal narratives of incest contribute to understanding trauma's lasting impact.