ABSTRACT
Patients who have been traumatised as infants present in the consulting room as difficult to reach. Depending upon the stage of their recovery, they appear passive, overly compliant, and eager to please. They seem to find their initiative in others, taking their cues from the environment and not feeling their own healthy impulses. The desire to connect with others as well as the ability to connect with themselves seem to be stunted. As they heal in their therapy, impulses return and they must learn, much as young children do, to manage the turmoil these impulses stimulate. These are the moments in the treatment during which impasses occur, for coming alive is terrifying and enraging. Coming alive is overwhelming and traumatizes the patient again.
This chapter uses a clinical example to demonstrate the process of recovering lost impulses from infancy and dealing with the overwhelming affect that is evoked in psychoanalytic treatment.
