Traumatizing Disorders of "Everyday Life"

Area of Science:

• Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy
• Clinical Psychology
• Sociology of Mental Health

Background:

• Contemporary historical moments present unprecedented psychological challenges, exceeding individual coping capacities.
• The concept of "too muchness" disrupts the traditional notion of the psychoanalytic consulting room as a "safe" space.
• External dangers and unrepresentable threats increasingly infiltrate the therapeutic dyad.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the difficulties in maintaining therapeutic safety in the current historical context.
• To explore strategies for preserving a sense of safety within clinical psychoanalytic work.
• To address the challenge of remaining open to external dangers without compromising the therapeutic environment.

Main Methods:

• Grounded in clinical examples and case illustrations.
• Theoretical exploration of the impact of historical "too muchness" on the analytic setting.
• Focus on the analyst-patient relationship within a context of pervasive threat.

Main Results:

• The "too muchness" of the current era significantly challenges the containment of psychic distress.
• Preserving safety requires acknowledging and integrating external disruptive forces, not just internal ones.
• Therapists face the dual task of maintaining a secure space while being open to overwhelming external realities.

Conclusions:

• Maintaining a "safe" consulting room necessitates adapting to the "too muchness" of our historical moment.
• Clinical work must find ways to hold both internal psychic experience and external unrepresentable dangers.
• Further exploration is needed on how to foster resilience and safety in psychoanalysis amidst global crises.