Approaches to Psychic Trauma

Bernd Huppertz, MD, is a physician, psychotherapist (child, adolescent, and adult), psychiatrist, neurologist, and former brain researcher. He has had a private practice in Germany since 1998. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, fellow of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine, and founder of the Institute for Comparative Psychotherapy. In 2002, he qualified to teach further education in psychiatry and psychotherapy (German Medical Association). He has widely published in the fields of psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and psychosomatic medicine, and is editor of Psychotherapy in the Wake of War: Discovering Multiple Psychoanalytic Traditions.

Essential: Approaches to Psychic Trauma is an exhaustive volume describing the various elements of trauma and its treatments. The first strength of the book lies in its organization. The reader is first given a brief history of the concept of trauma and its various therapeutic approaches, followed by in-depth discussion of the different types and presentations of trauma, succeeded by an overview of the current approaches to treatment—including art therapy and the neurosequential model of therapeutics (NMT), which seeks to address the biological developmental changes that happen to children after trauma. The chapter on NMT is an especially valuable one as hospitals, clinics, schools, and communities are increasingly recognizing the importance of considering the role that traumatic and abusive environments play in child development. The second strength of the book lies in the clinical material, which includes eight case studies of traumatic experiences and treatment. While this book will not be helpful for undergraduates or non-clinical graduate students, it is a necessary addition to collections serving clinical programs and current practitioners.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: A General Introduction to the Nature of Trauma 1 On the Development of the Concept of Trauma: Definition, Elements, and Relevant Terms Bernd Huppertz2 The Psychiatric Approach, the Subgroups of Posttraumatic Syndromes, and the Neurobiology of Stress and TraumaBernd HuppertzPart II: Dimensions of Trauma 3 Development and Trauma: Recapitulation of Traumatic Themes in Early Interaction Louise Newman4 Historical and Intergenerational Trauma: Radioactive Transmission of the Burdens of History—Destructive versus Creative Transmission Yolanda Gampel5 The Reality of Horror: Psychic Survival in the Face of Massive Trauma Louise Newman6 The Role of Cumulative Micro-trauma in Psychic Life: An Abridged Description of Injurious Relational Functioning Margaret Crastnopol7 Building Resilience: The Example of Ambiguous Loss Pauline BossPart III: Social Psychological Aspects of the Totalitarian Communist System 8 Political Psychology, Effects of Historical Processes, and Cultural Trauma Bernd Huppertz9 Sociohistorical Overview of Germany: The Development of the Federal Republic of Germany (GFR) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) Bernd Huppertz10 The False Self Adrian Sutton11 Totalitarian and Post-totalitarian Matrices: Reflective Citizens Facing Social-Psychic Retreats Marina Mojovic12 A Post-totalitarian Group: A Collective False Self or Posttraumatic Growth?Helena KlímováPart IV: Clinical Material Bernd Huppertz13 Case History Summaries 14 The Case of Mr. Q 15 The Case of Mrs. U 16 The Case of Mr. R 17 The Case of Mrs. O18 The Case of Mrs. P 19 The Case of Mrs. M 20 The Case of Mrs. N 21 The Case of Mrs. B Part V: Trauma Treatment Grounded inPsychodynamic-Psychoanalytic Approaches 22 Challenges of Treatment with Traumatized Individuals from a Modern Freudian Perspective Anna Balas23 Trauma and Inner Reality: A Kleinian and Post-Kleinian Perspective Mariângela Mendes de Almeida24 Trauma Treatment from the Winnicottian Perspective Adrian Sutton25 Theoretical and Clinical Implications of the Concept of the Zero Process: An Ego-Psychology Perspective Joseph Fernando26 Extreme Traumatization: Conceptualization and Treatment from the Perspective of Object Relations and Modern Research Sverre Varvin27 Contemporary Self Psychology and Its Treatment of Traumatized Patients Koichi Togashi and Amanda Kottler28 Relational Psychoanalysis and Trauma: The Significance of Witnessing and Containing Adrienne Harris29 Trauma Work via the Lens of Attachment Theory: Gaslight—Reality Distortion by Familiar Attachment Figures Orit Badouk EpsteinPart VI: Arts Therapies 30 Embodied Mentalizing or “Meaning-Making” in Music Therapy with Traumatized Children Jacqueline Z. Robarts31 Trauma Work in Play and Drama Therapy: The Importance of the Theatre of Resilience Sue JenningsPart VII: Other Trauma Treatment Approaches 32 Mentalization and Its Role in Processing Trauma Nicolas Lorenzini, Chloe Campbell, and Peter Fonagy33 The Treatment of Trauma: The Neurosequential Model and “Take Two” Annette Jackson, Margarita Frederico, Allison Cox, and Carlina BlackPart VIII: Summary and Outlook 34 Conclusion Bernd HuppertzIndex About the Editor and Contributors