Overview

A fresh look at the importance of dissociation in understanding trauma. A new model of therapeutic action, one that heals trauma and dissociation, is overtaking the mental- health field. It is not just trauma, but the dissociation of the self, that causes emotional pain and difficulties in functioning. This book discusses how people are universally subject to trauma, what trauma is, and how to understand and work with normative as well as extreme dissociation. In this new model, the client and the practitioner are both traumatized and flawed human beings who affect each other in the mutual process that the promotes the healing of the client—psychotherapy. Elizabeth Howell explains the dissociative, relational, and attachment reasons that people blame and punish themselves. She covers the difference between repression and dissociation, and how Freud’s exclusive focus on repression and the one-person fantasy Oedipal model impeded recognition of the serious consequences of external trauma, including child abuse. The book synthesizes trauma/dissociation perspectives and addresses new structural models.

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9780393713732

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Reviews

Howell elegantly transposes such grief-based work to moments of reparative experiences in attachment, relationality and dissociation that ultimately leads, in her final chapter, to an 'interpersonal intersubjectivity' that promotes 'intrapersonal intersubjectivity.' [The] nuanced clinical case studies adds substantial momentum to the current paradigm change in psychotherapy. A close reading of her trenchant, elegant arguments will benefit many patients and all therapists. [A]n extraordinary contribution to the growing library of contemporary psychotherapy literature and should be considered an essential addition the supplemental studies lists for Medical Neuropsychology and Psychopathology students and practitioners. Clear, well-written, engaging. Valuable for clinicians at all levels.--Lucie Grosvenor, LCSW, Executive Director, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center Elizabeth Howell writes from her heart, guided by her deeply felt and valued relationships with her patients, clearly cherished as her most important collaborators. Her original thinking shines through as she adds her own views and creatively spells out and interprets the work of both psychoanalytic thinkers and traumatologists, an integrative feat few writers have achieved. Sit down with Elizabeth, as I have, and enjoy her company. You will be delighted!--Richard A. Chefetz, M.D., Private Practice of Psychiatry, Washington, D.C. Elizabeth Howell's new book provides a masterful synthesis of the vital revolution in trauma theory and practice over the last 25 years. In this illuminating, indispensable guide, she weaves together the powerful insights of multiple disciplines with those of her own personal transformation as a relational trauma therapist. Dedicated to exploring the painful and complex reality of her subject, Howell's book is an invaluable guide to the newly hopeful field of trauma therapy.--Jessica Benjamin, Psychoanalyst and author of The Bonds of Love and Beyond Doer and Done To Howell's distinctive blend of trauma-informed clinical compassion, academic and analytic questioning reaches a new peak here. She exposes the trauma caused by Freud's creation of the Oedipus complex and the damage of one-person psychology. At the same time she offers hope through comprehensive non-dissociative theorizing, backed as always by solid clinical evidence. Gently, authentically, and relationally argued this is a powerful seminal bombshell of a book--albeit an elegant one.--Valerie Sinason, PhD, British psychoanalyst and author

Clear, well-written, engaging. Valuable for clinicians at all levels.--Lucie Grosvenor, LCSW, Executive Director, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center Elizabeth Howell writes from her heart, guided by her deeply felt and valued relationships with her patients, clearly cherished as her most important collaborators. Her original thinking shines through as she adds her own views and creatively spells out and interprets the work of both psychoanalytic thinkers and traumatologists, an integrative feat few writers have achieved. Sit down with Elizabeth, as I have, and enjoy her company. You will be delighted!--Richard A. Chefetz, M.D., Private Practice of Psychiatry, Washington, D.C. Elizabeth Howell's new book provides a masterful synthesis of the vital revolution in trauma theory and practice over the last 25 years. In this illuminating, indispensable guide, she weaves together the powerful insights of multiple disciplines with those of her own personal transformation as a relational trauma therapist. Dedicated to exploring the painful and complex reality of her subject, Howell's book is an invaluable guide to the newly hopeful field of trauma therapy.--Jessica Benjamin, Psychoanalyst and author of The Bonds of Love and Beyond Doer and Done To Howell's distinctive blend of trauma-informed clinical compassion, academic and analytic questioning reaches a new peak here. She exposes the trauma caused by Freud's creation of the Oedipus complex and the damage of one-person psychology. At the same time she offers hope through comprehensive non-dissociative theorizing, backed as always by solid clinical evidence. Gently, authentically, and relationally argued this is a powerful seminal bombshell of a book--albeit an elegant one.--Valerie Sinason, PhD, British psychoanalyst and author

Author Information

Elizabeth Howell, PhD, teaches at several institutes and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation.  She has written three previous books on trauma, dissociation, and attachment, and over thirty-five articles. She lives in New York City.

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