Maternal envy as legacy: Search for the unknown lost maternal object
Jill Salberg1,2
1New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York, NY, USA.
The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis
|October 6, 2022
Summary
Intergenerational trauma and dissociative states impact parent-child relationships across generations. Psychoanalytic theory expands to include how early maternal death affects mothers and daughters, requiring processing of envy and shame.
Area of Science:
- Psychoanalytic theory
- Psychology
- Transgenerational trauma studies
Background:
- Intergenerational transmission of trauma and dissociative states is a growing area of psychoanalytic theory.
- Early maternal death can profoundly affect multiple generations of mothers and daughters.
- Key factors include attachment rupture, trauma, envy, aggression, and shame.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the impact of intergenerational trauma and dissociative states on family dynamics.
- To examine clinical material illustrating the long-term effects of maternal death across generations.
- To discuss the role of the analytic relationship in processing these phenomena.
Main Methods:
- Clinical case study analysis.
- Psychoanalytic theory application.
- Exploration of transgenerational transmission phenomena.
Main Results:
- Early maternal death can create a haunting legacy across generations of mothers and daughters.
- Attachment rupture, trauma, envy, aggression, and shame are identified as core components of transgenerational transmission.
- The analytic relationship provides a space for processing these painful transmissions.
Conclusions:
- Processing envy and shame is crucial for transforming the impact of past transgenerational transmissions.
- Understanding these dynamics offers new insights into psychoanalytic theory.
- Therapeutic work in the analytic relationship can help mitigate the effects of inherited trauma.
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