ABSTRACT
Infantile psychic trauma, inscribed in the mind early in life, is held as ‘memories in feelings’, phantasies and traumatic memory traces impacting the development of the mind. In this chapter, detailed clinical work is described to illustrate how these early traumatic communications appear in therapeutic work and to show how ‘feelings in memories’ are given meaning in the transferential encounter allowing fragmented memories to be re-signified in the context of current development. This type of retrospective resignification reflects a broader version of the concept of Nachtraglichkeit or après coup. To illustrate clinical work with a prepubertal girl whose functioning ‘broke down’ leaving her literally crippled is explored through a series of three vignettes taking place over four and half years of her therapy. The themes considered in relation to the vignette are the denial of psychic reality, connecting with a psychic life and mourning and representing a complex inner world. In addition, the role of time and space in the internalisation of the analytic function is discussed. This holds the possibility of symbolic and creative modes of expression, allowing for, as Klein argued, the deep experience of one’s emotions and conflicts.
