1996/01/01 by Jody Messier Davies · 2 citations
Psychology · Medicine · #Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications #Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics #Psychological Testing and Assessment #Psychoanalytic theory #Sexual abuse #Psychology #Dissociation (chemistry) #Countertransference #Psychotherapist #Psychoanalysis #Child abuse #Context (archaeology) #Poison control #Suicide prevention #Medicine
paper · doi:10.1080/10481889609539115
openalex publication_date 1996/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
This article analyzes the current controversey over the iatrogenic implantation of sexual abuse “pseudomemories”; during psychoanalytic treatment. It includes a critique of contemporary memory “research”; and an elaboration of the concept of traumatic dissociation, bringing it into the framework of relational theory. Specific clinical examples are used to illustrate why adult survivors of sexual abuse are so vulnerable to dissociative rather than repressive defensive structures. In the context of a long clinical vignette, the analyst's countertransference is explored as a fulcrum for the counterbalancing effects of traumatic memory, dissociation, and constructivism.