Petrification and Revitalization

The Role of Somatic Narration in Working Through A War Trauma

Bibliographic Data

ID9230748
AuthorsSebastian Leikert (Lindenstraße 8, Saarbrücken 66128, Germany, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume92
Issue2
Pages159-183
Publication date2023-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Psychoanalytic Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-2828 • E-ISSN: 2167-4086
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00332828.2023.2237501
PMID37556771
OpenAlexW4385693468
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited12

The author investigates bodily aspects of the defense organization in the treatment of a soldier suffering from a war traumatization. The patient reports two situations-a bomb attack and the subsequent confrontation with wounded comrades-that had a traumatizing impact. In the treatment process, a phase of stagnation is described before the shared attention is focused on the bodily perception of the patient. His petrified body feeling ("my body feels like concrete") was systematically examined in the therapeutic process then slowly transformed through shared perception, leading to a process of vitalizing reorganization. This method is called somatic narration. It reverses the defense processes of the encapsulated body engram. This capsule results from the threatening impact of a traumatic event, disorganizing the patient's body-self. This disorganization then is encapsulated through a process of petrification and avoidance of awareness. The therapeutic process is described in detail. The structure of the bodily unconscious is revealed. The process of reorganization of perception and memory is outlined

Art · Feeling · Literature · Narrative · Perception · Process (computing) · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Unconscious mind · Neuroscience · Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology · Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy

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