ABSTRACT
Post-traumatic states are characterized by rigidity and incapability to organize life in the temporal unfolding of intersubjective existence. In other words, trauma blocks the person’s innate movement toward integration and healing. Originally, trauma leads to the splitting of different sensorial modalities and of parts of the ego, generating an effect of “inauthenticity.” This is why, in the clinical setting, linking different sensorial modalities with one another amounts to achieving an effect of “authenticity,” which lies at the core of the healing process. The elimination of traumatic temporal disruptions may eventually provide the means to help the patient anticipate, reduce, or even avoid psychic pain in the form of depression or traumatic anxiety, thus reestablishing a coherent self-narrative. A transformation in the trauma patient’s psychic reality comes about when an aspect of the past, which is still present in the person’s mind, is subject to change in perspective, which in turn brings about a transformation of the overall individual’s life story.
