Skeletons in the closet

Garon, Josette

doi:10.1080/08037060410031142

Cited by 17 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…The psychoanalytic concept of intergenerational transmission of trauma (Garon, 2004 ; Muhlegg, 2016 ; Volkan, 1997 ) posits that psychological trauma experienced by the parental generation is transmitted to the next generation. The implication is that the children absorb the emotional effects of the trauma of the survivor parents: the trauma is re-visited upon the children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotherapy with two late adulthood children of the colonies

Knight

2017

ResPsy

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There are a small group of mature adults in their 50s and 60s, members of the so-called <em>third age</em> that arrive at the door for psychotherapy. As clients, they want to explore an overwhelming sense of being dis-located in space and time, and at odds with where they find themselves living. They have a deep and profound sense of not belonging and of being rootless. These older, white, adults are the baby-boomers of post World War II, and I refer to them as the adult <em>children of the colonies</em> because they are of European descent but born in the colonies of Africa. This paper describes the experiences of two clients, Robert and Caitlin, who find themselves feeling progressively psychically dis-located in South Africa and confronting not only their limited future in terms of impending death, but confronting existential givens of life that prevent them at this late stage of life from returning home to their ancestral lands. They present a unique group of older adult clients, and like fish out of water, they have no sense of belonging to Africa, and as a result, they experience a range of emotions such as despair and depression with a concomitant sense of fragmented identities. Discussion of the cases ensues and includes the concept of intergenerational transmission of trauma, fragmented identities, and belonging as linked to ancestral lands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotherapy with two late adulthood children of the colonies

Knight

2017

ResPsy

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“…The name is often the embodiment of the parents' hopes and dreams, thus pointing to an intergenerational transmission of parental psychic content to their child (Feldman, 2015;Ferenczi, 1988;Garon, 2004;Henry, 1951;Muhlegg, 2016), often through the mechanism of projective identification (Ferenczi, 1988;Garon, 2004;Muhlegg, 2016). The social and familial ritualization of parents choosing and giving the first names to their child signifies the placing of the child within the broader context of the family.…”

Section: The Experience Of Speaking the Names As 'Speaking A Familialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The social and familial ritualization of parents choosing and giving the first names to their child signifies the placing of the child within the broader context of the family. The name is often the embodiment of the parents’ hopes and dreams, thus pointing to an intergenerational transmission of parental psychic content to their child (Feldman, ; Ferenczi, ; Garon, ; Henry, ; Muhlegg, ), often through the mechanism of projective identification (Ferenczi, ; Garon, ; Muhlegg, ). The psychological implication of this transmission of parental hope is that the child, through the given name, is born with the yoke of parental expectations and is compelled to fulfil these hopes.…”

Section: Exploratory Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Speaking the Names’ of Family as ‘Speaking a Place’

Knight¹

2018

Brit J Psychotherapy

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Names and naming practices have been the focus of social science research for several years. Our name, as part of our identity, shapes and defines our sense of self. When clients start psychotherapy they first introduce themselves by giving their names. Sometimes they speak the names of their parents and grandparents. This speaking of the collective intergenerational familial names is termed ‘speaking the names’. This article sets out to explore and describe the experience of clients in psychoanalytic therapy of ‘speaking the names’. The methodological approach is phenomenological with a focus on experience as a legitimate unit of investigation. Transcripts of sessions with clients are analysed using thematic analysis. The main exploratory findings are that ‘speaking the names’ is a significant psychological event and it can be understood as (1) ‘speaking one's place’ within the family, (2) ‘speaking the hope’ of the family, (3) ‘speaking its lived meaning’ when the meaning of their name is unknown but appears to be lived unconsciously, and (4) ‘speaking a lost connection’ when the familial names are unknown.

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“…The study of the intergenerational transmission of parental trauma began in the 1960’s when therapists encountered large numbers of children of Holocaust survivors needing help with mental problems and entering psychotherapy (Danieli, 1998 ). The concept of the transmission of intergenerational trauma refers to the notion that parents transfer their unprocessed trauma to their children (Feldman, 2015 ; Garon, 2004 ). The implication is that the children, as inheritors of this parental disavowal, continue to unconsciously experience life in the shadows of their parents’ unprocessed pain and loss relating to their trauma (Brothers, 2014 ; Faimberg, 2005a , 2005b ; Feldman, 2015 ; Garon, 2004 ; Knight, 2017 ; Matz, Vogel, Mattar & Montenegro, 2015 ; Muhlegg, 2016 ; Roitman, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The concept of the transmission of intergenerational trauma refers to the notion that parents transfer their unprocessed trauma to their children (Feldman, 2015 ; Garon, 2004 ). The implication is that the children, as inheritors of this parental disavowal, continue to unconsciously experience life in the shadows of their parents’ unprocessed pain and loss relating to their trauma (Brothers, 2014 ; Faimberg, 2005a , 2005b ; Feldman, 2015 ; Garon, 2004 ; Knight, 2017 ; Matz, Vogel, Mattar & Montenegro, 2015 ; Muhlegg, 2016 ; Roitman, 2017 ). Children not only unconsciously receive the parental disavowed trauma, but also unconsciously identify with it, perhaps throughout their lives (Knight, 2017 ; Muhlegg, 2016 ) thus ensuring the continuation of endless cycles of unresolved, intergenerational distress and trauma (Abraham & Torok, 1994 ; Bartlett, 2017 ; Bohleber, 2007 ; Faimberg, 2005b ; Feldman, 2015 ; Ferenczi, 1988 ; Garon, 2004 ; Knight, 2017 ; Muhlegg, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In the shadow of Apartheid: intergenerational transmission of Black parental trauma as it emerges in the analytical space of inter-racial subjectivities

Knight

2019

ResPsy

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Using the construct of projective identification and integrating it with the body of literature on intergenerational transmission of unsymbolized parental trauma, I describe the case of an adult black South African woman called Sibulelo. It is suggested that Sibulelo has unconsciously identified with the disavowed parents and grandparents trauma that they suffered as a result of the system of Apartheid. Such trauma is expressed through her feelings of being dis-located in time and space, as if she is living outside of herself, unplugged from life, and living someone else’s life. The paper details the unfolding therapeutic process in relation to my whiteness in the context of her blackness. This brings into sharp focus an exploration of black-white racialized transference-counter-transference matrix in the context of intergenerational trauma. It is a reflective paper and opens up my own counter-transference, thus foregrounding the notion of therapeutic inter-subjectivity. A further contribution to psychoanalytic theory concerns the role of recognition and being seen as a powerful process in facilitating the symbolization of trauma. In addition, if there is no interruption of the cycles of intergenerational trauma, and therefore no symbolization, it becomes an unconscious familial compulsion to repeat. Moreover, this therapy case highlights the idea that as a traumatised family living within a bruised culture of intergenerational transmission of trauma, such repetition of trauma becomes a cultural compulsion to repeat what has not been spoken or named.

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Skeletons in the closet

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Psychotherapy with two late adulthood children of the colonies

Psychotherapy with two late adulthood children of the colonies

‘Speaking the Names’ of Family as ‘Speaking a Place’

In the shadow of Apartheid: intergenerational transmission of Black parental trauma as it emerges in the analytical space of inter-racial subjectivities

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