A Bridge Across Silent Trauma: Enactment, Art, and Emergence in the Treatment of a Traumatized Adolescence. Issue 4 (4th July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: MacIntosh, Heather B.
• Is Part Of: Psychoanalytic dialogues. Volume 27:Issue 4(2017)
• Page Start: 433
• Page End: 453
• Publication Date: 2017-07-04
• Subjects: Psychoanalysis -- Periodicals; Psychotherapist and patient -- Periodicals; 616.891705
• DOI: 10.1080/10481885.2017.1328188
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1048-1885

Abstract

Abstract : This paper recounts the 4-year treatment of Hannah, a virtually silent, traumatized adolescent. Over the course of 4 years Hannah was in and out of the hospital with severe self-injury and suicide attempts. While Hannah communicated her distress through bloodied scabs and overdoses, her words were few. Eventually, Hannah and her therapist were able to find their way to communicate about her pain and terror through shared art making, which became a bridge across the silence. Hannah's art and her therapist's struggle to find ways to be with her, communicate with her, and help her heal through moments of meeting and shared art making are explored.