Home : Book details : Book description

Description of  Holocaust Trauma and Psychic Deformation (New International Library of Group Analysis)

Written by a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, this moving and important book examines the massive psychic trauma suered by a generation of Holocaust survivors. It not only provides both an intimate and personal reection on these harrowing events, but also oers an in-depth, clinical perspective on an often-misunderstood phenomenon. As a child during this period, the book begins by examining the authors own experience as a refugee in the aftermath of the Holocaust, the psycho- logical impact of displacement after such traumatic events, and his attempt to ee its damage through medical and psychoanalytic training. But the second half of the book broadens the perspective to oer a clinical exploration of the psychic eects of surviving the Holocaust. A range of concepts are addressed and explored, from powerlessness and survivor guilt, to psychic security and recovered memories. The book concludes by examining how psychic trauma is processed, and the clinical implications for when disorders emerge and dysfunction results. Read more