ABSTRACT
This chapter presents 'a trauma patient', inasmuch as at the point of referral he was devastated by the accidental death of his girlfriend and the preceding illness and death of his mother, he now, however, describes himself as having a problem with 'mental work'. When Freud is writing about trauma in 'Beyond the Pleasure Principle' he conceives of it as 'a consequence of an extensive breach being made in the protective shield against stimuli'. Trauma, by definition, occurs when the mental work, this alpha functioning, is overwhelmed and unable to contain and digest the quality and quantity of stimuli involved and therefore breaks down. Perhaps the relationship between trauma and mental work is even closer and more interdependent than this suggests. Trauma then not only demands and can damage mental work, mental work itself is founded on, constituted by a capacity to face, manage, contain and negotiate traumatic anxiety.
