ABSTRACT
Pierre Janet was probably the first psychologist to formulate a systematic therapeutic approach to posttraumatic psychopathology and to recognize that treatment needs to be adapted to the different stages of the evolution of posttraumatic stress reactions. He considered the inability to integrate traumatic memories to be the core issue in posttraumatic syndromes: treatment of psychological trauma always entailed an attempt to recover and integrate the memories of the trauma into the totality of people’s identities. He also considered “rapport” between patient and therapist indispensable for resolution of the trauma, but recognized that severely traumatized patients are prone to idealization, which can develop into intense “somnambulistic passion”. Janet thought that moral guidance was an essential element of the doctor–patient relationship at all phases of treatment. He also thought that a person’s psychological tension largely determined whether one could deal with potentially traumatizing experiences.
