Trauma and the Soul

by Donald Kalsched

In Trauma and the Soul , Donald Kalsched continues the exploration he began in his first book, The Inner World of Trauma (1996)―this time going further into the mystical or spiritual moments that often occur around the intimacies of psychoanalytic work. Through extended clinical vignettes, including therapeutic dialogue and dreams, he shows how depth psychotherapy with trauma’s survivors can open both analytic partners to "another world" of non-ordinary reality in which daimonic powers reside, both light and dark. This mytho-poetic world, he suggests, is not simply a defensive product of our struggle with the harsh realities of living as Freud suggested, but is an everlasting fact of human experience―a mystery that is often at the very center of the healing process, and yet at other times, strangely resists it. With these "two worlds" in focus, Kalsched explores a variety of themes as he builds, chapter by chapter, an integrated psycho-spiritual approach to trauma and its treatment This is a book that restores the mystery to psychoanalytic work. It tells stories of ordinary patients and ordinary psychotherapists who, through working together, glimpse the reality of the human soul and the depth of the spirit, and are changed by the experience. Trauma and the Soul will be of particular interest to practicing psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, analytical psychologists, and expressive arts therapists, including those with a "spiritual" orientation. Donald Kalsched is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a training analyst with the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts. He is the author of numerous articles in analytical psychology, and lectures widely on the subject of early trauma and its treatment. His books include The Inner World of Trauma (1996).

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, Self Help, Health

366 pages, Paperback

First published November 11, 2012

About the author

Donald Kalsched is a Clinical Psychologist and Jungian Psychoanalyst in private practice in Brunswick Maine. He is a member of the Maine Jung Center in Brunswick, the C. G. Jung Institute of New England, and the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts where he regularly teaches and supervises candidates in training.

He is the author of many journal articles, book chapters, interviews, and two major books in the field of Depth Psychology: The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defences of the Personal Spirit (Routledge, 1996), and Trauma and the Soul: A Psycho-Spiritual Approach to Human Development and its Interruption (Routledge, 2013). Both have been translated into many languages.

Dr. Kalsched teaches and lectures nationally and internationally, pursuing his inter-disciplinary interest in early trauma and dissociation theory and its mytho-poetic manifestations in the mythic and religious iconography of many cultures.

Reviews

[Jane Davenport Platko · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read Donald Kalsched’s book Trauma and the Soul there were times I felt a deep resonance with my own recently published memoir. Kalsched’s analysis of dissociation with its need to save the split-off soul-child, his decisive stand around the spiritual core of what psychology names the unconscious, and his call which echoes that of C.G. Jung’s for a third world between the worlds of matter and spirit, a transcendent space, are masterfully delivered in this book.

From a theoretical perspective this author has left no stone unturned. His bibliography speaks volumes. Expounding upon the salient developments in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, Kalsched’s analysis includes the thinking of William James, Freud, Jung, Klein, Winnicott, Kohut, Grotstein, and Schore; a list that does not begin to do justice to his interpretations of innumerable contributors to this ever-changing theoretical landscape.

A man of intelligence, compassion, and depth, Kalsched writes, “the soul needs a story, a resonant image that is adequate to its own biography.” In his book he tells stories, he tells his patients’ stories (and for the most part they are women), the story of The Little Prince and of Dante’s journey into the Inferno.

Though I highly recommend this book, particularly for those in the field of depth psychology, but also for victims of trauma in search of recovery, I would add that to my mind Trauma and the Soul offers “a psycho-spiritual approach to human development and its interruption” that reflects the profoundly rational masculine influence of Western thought on psychology.

The cover leaves us with an image. “Blake’s good and evil angels struggling for the possession of a child.” The evil angel is black. The good angel and child are white. All are male.

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brave, profound, heart rending, gorgeous meditation on trauma and psychotherapy as the wellspring of spiritual birth.

The image of the shamanic mask with one eye closed and one eye open serves a touchstone, returned to over and over.

The image refers to the need to attend to our inner world (one eye closed) while concurrently attending to the other/outer/relational world (one eye open) in order to be in true sacred communion with another (I/THOU as opposed to I/IT).

The author asserts that this type of attending is the fundament of the psychotherapeutic relationship, which can be the crucible and flame that forges a soul from trauma.

The author illustrates all of this and more via lovely interpretations of cases, dreams, mythology and fairytales.

Stunning, sensitive, transformative read.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kalsched has produced an absolute masterpiece which I would highly recommend to any of you fascinated with psychology, spirituality and/or the resolution of trauma. Kalshed weaves together insights based on his training as a Jungian analyst, his deep understanding of object relations psychology and his familiarity with recent developments in neuroscience and body psychotherapies. He then relates beautifully narrated tales of healing from his therapy practice, weaving these together with classical works of fiction, mythological stories, fairy tales and other works of literature to illustrate a powerful conceptual understanding of the impact of trauma on our very essense. This essence is what Jung refers to as the Self and what Kalshed unabasedly refers to as the soul. This aspect of us, Kalsched proposes, holds a core of innocence and vitality which is disconnected from us during traumatic events, but preserved within our subconscious to be rediscovered at a later time, when we can process the traumatic events that were overwhelming at the time. This may sound simple, but Kalsched then illustrates the complex and potent forces that defend against this reintegration. Forces that he refers to as the "self care system", but can at times be perceived as demonic and persecutory. Kalsched's insights go a long way to explain how traditional psychotherapeutic techniques have failed so often to overcome these forces and why efforts to heal trauma can be so frustrating for the client and the therapist. I have found myself rethinking many of my own previous assumptions and thank Kalsched for this masterful work which I hope gains the broad audience it deserves.

[Steve Ellerhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sometimes defenses have survival value. Sometimes they keep us in Hell forever" (87).

Donald Kalsched's second book on trauma and healing from it is an astonishing gift from a psychoanalyst who has helped a great many people in therapy. He puts forth a way of thinking about and dealing with trauma that is compelling and mytho-poetic. His notion is that dissociation experienced in early childhood as a result of trauma is a defense mechanism. What is it trying to defend? The child's innocence and, when you get down to it, soul. This serves a great purpose at first, especially if there is no one around to scoop up the child and help her to integrate the trauma. If, however, the defense mechanism—what Kalsched calls the self-care system—is the only presence to protect the child, it can over time turn on her and prevent her from embracing her life, from adjusting to life's slings and arrows. In this case the trauma freezes her as she grows, ever-present even if she's unable to express it.

So how does one heal when this has happened? Kalsched points in two directions: active imagination and relationship. His case for active imagination is laid out through examples from his practice and also Carl Jung's experience in writing the Red Book, where he engaged the figures coming to him through fantasy and wrote down the resulting conversations and happenings. This kind of creativity can play a big role in healing from early trauma. In terms of relationship, Kalsched vouches for the healing power of a therapeutic relationship whereby the traumatized person harrows her own personal Hell with her psychotherapist, confronting the compacted defense mechanism and integrating the pain from her earlier trauma into experience so that she is able to live a more ensouled life. His primary example here is how Dante went through the Divine Comedy with the help of Virgil. A psychoanalyst can perform this role in a person's life and help her mourn the child within and see, through her brokenness, her own wholeness. "True to mythology the world over, and true to the human psyche," he writes, "the act of acknowledging one's own brokenness—the surrendering of all ego-pretense and the acceptance of one's own neediness—opens up deeper resources in the psyche/world" (300).

He writes of how a spiritual presence seems to appear in this kind of relationship between two people: "Behind the clash of opposites there seems to be something else 'waiting' for us to make a choice—or not. ... This transcendent Other ... only comes to presence when we choose it and this only seems possible in relationship. Making this choice somehow liberates us from the clash of opposites—for a mysterious 'third' that comes to presence both inwardly (in symbolic space) and outwardly (in transitional space)" (157). As a Jungian, Kalsched sees this mysterious presence as the Self, the powerful archetype at the center of one's being. Many times, in his experience, it emerges as an image or fantasy of a child (which will make immediate sense to anyone who's dipped the old toes in Jungian psychology), but it can also appear as an animal or some kind of guardian figure.

Kalsched comes across as a gentle and empathic expert on his subject, making the case studies he shares all the more intriguing and hopeful. There is a lot of good that comes of hearing how a series of people came to process their trauma and become themselves by greater degrees. The surprising way dreams punctuate and even guide revelations in the people he writes about is fascinating. He also incorporates and goes into dialogue with other experts, contemporary and from the past, who have wrestled with how to help people heal from terrible wounds. He is particularly salient when it comes to the way the body records trauma and how this relates to the psyche, the (trapped) soul, and the collective unconscious—providing a needed bridge between analytical psychology and contemporary psychologies.

One section of the book that really spoke to me was his analysis of The Little Prince and how the relationship between the Little Prince and the Fox is so very like a therapeutic relationship. The Fox teaches the Little Prince a lot about presence and how to love by showing him how to tame him. The loss when they part is painful and deepens both of them, the beauty of wheat fields imprinting upon them the significance of their love. Kalsched is particularly good on this: "depression is our inability to grieve for the loss of those we love. This emotional pain in the face of loss is disavowed. It breaks away from its original traumatic origin, is amplified by other pain, and becomes a defense against feeling ... [The] act of loving is a terrible risk for everyone, and especially for people who have grown up in emotionally impoverished environments. To really love someone ... is to risk losing them, precisely because we live in an insecure, unpredictable world in which death, separation, or abandonment is an ever-present reality" (99). So very true.

I know I shall return to this book again and again. It is a treasure and I thank Donald Kalsched for writing it.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d like to give ten stars to this book. The author is a sensitive and compassionate analyst, a brilliant theoretician, and an excellent, clear writer. This is a very important book in depth psychology, early relational trauma and its repair. I’m grateful that it was written and that I learned of it. Although it’s very expensive, as these specialized books tend to be, I will be purchasing a copy for my own library.

[John Pants · Rating 1 out of 5]

prohibitively expensive. only available in hard copy. wrote the author an email about it and he replied with a rather snarky response. can't understand why you wouldn't want to facilitate more people reading a book, if the information is really intended to be helpful?

[Mr Disco · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most amazing books I have ever read. Trauma & The Soul has fundamentally changed the way I think about myself, others and the human psyche.

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible read. Jungian pshychoanalysis at its best.
Read in Russian translation, beware of some spoilexcerpts to follow:
...
Я бы сказал, что мое состояние ухудшалось и становилось отчаянным. Я заметил, как отводил глаза мой врач, как напряженно молчали мои родители, как у медсестер вдруг пропадал голос, когда они подходили ко мне. Моя больничная койка становилась смертным одром… Внезапно я ощутил себя плывущим по бескрайней бархатной тьме, абсолютно черной и комфортной. Я плыл и видел все вокруг, ликуя от свободы. Я изучил все пространство сферы, внутри которой оказался. Она была совершенной, за исключением малюсенького пятнышка прямо передо мной. Этот, так сказать, светло-голубой пиксель мешал полноте восприятия этой тьмы как прекрасной и успокаивающей. Это пятнышко раздражало меня и притягивало мое внимание. Я ощутил, что меня тянет к нему с огромной силой и скоростью. Свет нарастал. Я понял, что это было лучом, проходящим через портал, похожий на открытую сводчатую дверь. Свет был ярко-белым с голубоватым оттенком.
Внезапно я оказался внутри, прямо передо мной был источник света. Надо мной возвышалась фигура без шеи и конечностей, и ее тело было укрыто облакоподобным одеянием, простирающимся от головы, одеянием, которое ниспадало и становилось частью облакоподобного пола. Свет исходил из «его» глаз (хотя гендерные местоимения тут неуместны). Гла��а были его единственной явной чертой, и я удивился, что без боли могу смотреть прямо в них. Я моментально наполнился чувством, что объят этим существом целиком: я понял, что кем или чем бы он ни был, он любил меня безмерно, как никто на земле не может любить. Я повернулся направо, на девяносто градусов; его глаза следовали за мной. Какая-то часть меня хотела видеть портал, через который я только что прибыл. Его уже там не было. Лишь слева за фигурой был небольшой шаровидный протуберанец, который я принял за куст. Как и все остальное, он был ярко-белого цвета с голубоватым оттенком.
«ТЫ…» Слово ворвалось в меня громовым раскатом. Что-то очень новое и освежающее пришло ко мне прямо из горнил творения. Оно заполнило меня всего. Я понял, что это слово просто возникло, а не было услышано мной. Это означало, что прекрасную часть меня можно было назвать лишь этим словом «ты». Я упивался полнотой смысла этого слова, мне передавалось его совершенство. Я был слит с этими глазами…
«МОЖЕШЬ…» Снова открытие. Музыка начала времен. До сих пор я никогда не слышал ее, никогда не считал абсолютную свободу выбора самым истинным значением этого «можешь».
«ОСТАТЬСЯ…» Слоги этих слов внедрялись в мою голову. В каждом было обещание полного знания…
«…ИЛИ… ТЫ… МОЖЕШЬ… ВЕРНУТЬСЯ»
Образы моих родителей переполнили меня неописуемой скорбью. Печаль на пороге ухода нарастала во мне. Затем все поглотил гнев. Гнев был направлен на то место внутри моего черепа, где было кровотечение. Взрыв гнева, полного энергии и жара. Я знал, что именно я выбрал…
Я проснулся посреди ночи, и мне было лучше. Три дня спустя я вышел из больницы. Мой врач был поражен.
Позже (мне было всего семнадцать лет) я прочитал самоотчеты людей, имевших околосмертный опыт. Мне было знакомо то, что они видели. Я не любитель рисковать, но с того дня я больше не боялся смерти… И я никогда не забывал мгновения, пережитые мной на больничной койке, когда я был очень больным подростком в марте 1966 года.

В написанной позже статье в квакерском журнале г-н Белл размышляет о своем решении рассказать мне эту историю после той лекции.

Вообще-то я никогда не чувствовал себя так хорошо, как после того, как подошел к кафедре и поделился кое-чем личным. Тяжкий путь к кафедре доктора Калшеда привел меня к одному из самых освобождающих переживаний в моей жизни. Часть моей души, которую я прятал, смело вышла и заняла место под ярким солнцем в мире. Мир и глазом не моргнул. Самое важное, что в той духовной встрече я чувствовал, как нарастают интимнейшая безопасность и невыразимая любовь, становясь надежной и доступной частью моей персоны.
После разговора с Дональдом Калшедом я оказался слишком взволнован, чтобы уснуть, и пошел прогуляться по кампусу в Ливанской долине. Почти сразу я заметил, что шпиль часовни купался в ярко-белом свете с голубоватым оттенком. Я улыбнулся, зная, что уже бывал в таком месте, где давным-давно сияющий ангел зажег внутренний свет моей души.
...
И когда все вокруг человека затихает, становится торжественным, как ясная, звездная ночь, когда душа остается в одиночестве в целом мире, – тогда перед ней является не какое-то выдающееся человеческое существо, но сама вечная Сила, тогда небеса как бы раскрываются и «я» выбирает самое себя, или, точнее, получает самое себя. Тогда душа видит высшее, то, что не способен увидеть никакой смертный взор, она видит то, чего больше никогда не сможет забыть, – тогда личность получает рыцарское посвящение, которое облагораживает ее навеки. При этом человек вовсе не становится кем-то отличным от того, что он представлял собою прежде, но он становится собою; самосознание внезапно складывается воедино, и он уже стал собою.
(Kierkegaard, 1972: 181)
Этот прекрасный параграф отражает убежденность Кьеркегора, что человеческое я является синтезом конечного и бесконечного, временного и вечного, свободы и необходимости. Незнание этого приводит к своего рода «истерии духа» или «болезни к смерти», которая погружает человека в одномерную внешнюю жизнь (нарциссизм), ведущую в никуда.
...

[Liesl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible read. The main premise is about disassociation as a protective measure for the soul that could not deal with the level of trauma at that point. The case studies blew me away and were all relatable. I had so many aha moments reading this, making it my favourite read this year.

[Olga Zimina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a professional psychologist at all, but just interested in this topic. So, it was rather hard to read sometimes, and I was scraping through some parts, but I did enjoy the author's ideas about the dreams, mythology and psychology, and that these things can be intertwined between each other. I particularly liked the real dtories of his patients, always with difficult paths and tragic fates, but (thanks to therapy and strong desire to change unhealthy patterns) with happy endings.

[Atharv ☁️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best psychology book written for general public.
Jungian.

[Portal Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Kalsched explores relational trauma as a psychoanalyst through the lens of his “two worlds” theory on human development presenting case studies on the many patients he helped work through their relational difficulties. Because Kalsched is primarily a Jungian therapist, the book abounds with dream interpretations, mythological exposition, and spiritual and mystical elucidations uncovered through the therapeutic process. Kalsched defends the position that we have one eye open and one eye closed to the world: the open eye to to what we objectively see outwardly: the outer relationships, the temporal world, the world of science and physics, the world most of us live and are familiar with; and the inward eye: the eye toward the soul with its dreams, ineffable experiences, and its mysteries of the infinite and the eternal.

To give some notion to what Kalsched means by this, I give one of a plethora of examples about an instance involving a girl and her angel:

The mother sent her young daughter to her father’s study one morning to deliver an important note, written on a piece of paper. The little girl went off to deliver the note. Shortly thereafter, the daughter came back in tears and said, “I’m sorry mother, the angel won’t let me go in.” Whereupon the mother sent the daughter back a second time, with the same result only with more tears and distress. At this point, the mother became irritated at her younger’s imaginative excess, so she took her little girl by the hand and the two of them marched the message over to the father. As they entered the father’s study, the mother saw her husband slumped in the chair, his drink spilled on the floor, dead from a heart attack.

Going beyond the materialistic view that the angel was “just made up”, the author points to the psycho-spiritual or mytho-poetical view that the unconscious worked in protecting the child’s soul in experiencing too much reality too soon to an otherwise traumatic event that would have annihilated her soul. In Kalsched’s words, “the primary goal of the angel was to restore a mytho-poetic matrix between reality and fantasy because this is where the little girl’s soul lives, and the angel appears to be the guardian of this soul. So conceived , the survival of the soul is the main purpose of the self-care system.”

This self-care system, as the author calls it, thus works to safeguard an event that the child is too young to metabolize. However, because of this same protection, the self-care system can in fact stultify further process of understanding this same trauma. Because it wants to save the soul, this self-care system can also persecute any attempt to acknowledge the event and makes treating the trauma difficult and painful. This happens throughout the many portrayals found within the book and must be slowly and painstakingly revealed and ameliorated through analysis and dialogue.

Kalsched also makes various parallels between the many vignettes found in his therapy and the works found in literature. Whether it's “Dante’s Inferno,” or St. Exupery’s “The Little Prince,” Kalsched juxtaposes the wisdom found in books with his own clinical experience. By doing so, he makes striking similarities between his patient’s therapeutic process and the larger world of the collective unconscious.

All in all, Trauma and the Soul is a wonderful book, full of traumatic experiences, but also their integration and triumph. Kalsched makes a strong case for the soul, differentiating himself from Freudian psychology and contemporary therapists who otherwise denigrate and reduce many of the same cases as delusions and fantasies. I would recommend this book to therapists and patients alike going through relational therapy or to anyone with trauma (so more or less everyone) who are inclined to the spiritual or mystical orientation. Thanks for reading! 🙂

[Mary Gail O'Dea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyrical and moving book combining Jungian and Object Relational approaches to spirituality and trauma.

[Brad Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book! I will be rereading it again and again. Mining for gold takes time.

[Gregory Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

   What does it mean to be human in the 21st century? Donald Kalsched’s Trauma and the Soul: A psycho-spiritual approach to human development and its interruption sets out to explain that very topic in his exploration of the effects of trauma on the soul and attempts at healing. Kalsched’s thesis could essentially be that what was medicinal in the beginning, turns poisonous later on. His brilliant concept of the self-care system shows that what is initially preserved at all cost is one’s soul and one’s innocence when facing trauma or other developmental challenges. Over time however, that same system can become pathologically violent and lead to a destructive, unhealthy type of protection that inhibits development and keeps individuals in an encapsulated space.

   Kalsched’s research is impeccable. The amount of citations and previous work he built on is impressive and gives the reader the sense that he is progressing the field of psychotherapy and moving trauma research forward. He even provides a neurological basis for the self-care system by citing prominent psychologists like Allan Schore and Iain McGilchrist. The implication is that dissociative defenses either impede or damage hemispheric integration so that the optimal “flow” back and forth between the hemispheres is restricted. While he also relies a lot on other psychologists such as Carl Jung, Donald Winnicott, and Ronald Fairbairn to back up his research, he also differs from them on a number of things. For starters, he states that Jung failed to grasp that the post-traumatic psyche includes a violent pathological force which becomes a barrier to healing. Winnicott and Fairbairn moreover, could not understand Jung or the self-care system adequately, because they did not value the internal, archetypal realm, whose main purpose is the protection of the soul. Kalsched also describes how previous psychologists (Fordham, Schwartz-Salant, Pinkola-Estes and Leonard) have well-documented these negative, pathological forces, but have failed to recognize them as a dissociative defense in the psyche. He further recognizes and explains that trauma and a maladaptive connection to one’s inherent development can lead to not only violent self-destructive tendencies, but also to evil and violence in the outer world. At the very least he says, the environmental factors that come with trauma must be included in any description of evil and violence. The reader almost wishes Kalsched expanded more on this connection of evil and trauma, but he only spends one page talking about it.

   I see this book as two different explanations of trauma and the self-care system. One is the more extreme cases of trauma in his case studies with his patients and their subsequent paths to healing. He mentions endearing patients like macho, bipolar Mike, abused Barbara and Cynthia, as well as borderline Diane. He describes their case history, treatment, and how it fits within the self-care system. However, the most heart-warming and memorable aspects of the book are Kalsched’s elucidations about general developmental issues or lesser traumas that everyone can relate to. For instance, his psychological examination of the Saint-Exupery novel, The Little Prince, is poignantly beautiful. He describes aspects of love & loss, innocence and suffering that everyone encounters in their lifetime, and then shows how it relates to his theory of a balanced “mytho-poetic matrix” (a system that allows a place where one’s soul can live in an equilibrium between reality and fantasy). His view is that innocence must suffer experience, and in this sense be “disillusioned.” At the same time, the world of the ego must suffer the grief of loss and then “re-illusionment.” In addition, Kalsched includes a wonderful psychological description of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno in order to show the extent of the tyrannical, demonic forces coming from trauma. He later includes incredibly impactful quotes from psychologist Helen Luke to show how one escapes the Inferno and passes through Purgatorio, through radical acceptance and choosing “better angels.”

   What was medicinal in the beginning turns poisonous later on, and so in Kalsched’s words: “the self-care system preserves the spark of each person’s divine inheritance – the innocent soul – but at the price of its disembodiment and de-animation.” The result is dissociation, inflation, splitting, malignant innocence, infantile omnipotence, and neurotic suffering. These defenses naturally prevent one from risking their innocence (or “true inner selves”) in this world, for fear of re-traumatization. Conversely, if the inner child is not able to express its needs or its rage due to trauma or some other negative event, the aggression turns inward and the soul goes into hiding within the unconscious. But as Kalsched explains, this also might allow a “second pathway” for the person to become more in tune to their true, inner selves. For instance, if a person was going about their life in a narcissistic ego-dominated frame of mind, then from the standpoint of the soul, something would have to happen to require more balance in the “mytho-poetic matrix,” and that something could be trauma – something that helps connect them to the inner world or the inner child. In addition, if as Kalsched states, “innocence, deprived of its entitlement becomes possessed by a diabolical spirit,” then from the point of view of the soul, that experience would be adversarial for the person involved, but also a blessing in terms of reconnecting with one’s soul. What is more concerning in these cases, is when does it become too much and when does the mytho-poetic matrix get out of balance due to archetypal content? When does it do more harm than good? Does God (or in this case, the soul or the Self) actually ask more of us than we can bear?

   Kalsched’s position on the last question seems to be that these archaic powers need to become more humanized and that they need to enter the world of suffering experience again. This would be similar to psychologist James Hillman's concept of "growing down." If not, it would be virtually impossible to compete with violent, archetypal forces from within. This psychological point of view is very profound and very revelatory for a technological society that can be viewed as “cocooned” in a web of computers and artificial intelligence. Metaphorically speaking, the self-care system could also be compared to an overzealous helicopter parent that shelters their children and does not allow them to grow up and be their own unique individual in this world. Kalsched states that dissociation becomes a way of life and the innocent core of the self – the “bud” remains frozen in a traumatic trance. One therefore needs the necessary painful suffering that leads to development of ego-strength and ego-agency. But is anybody really volunteering these days for painful suffering and developing ego-strength?

   Which leads back to the original question: What does it mean to be human in the 21st century? One word that sticks out in Kalsched’s book in terms of how it relates to our times, would be “tyrannical.” He describes the forces that keep the inner child captive in the unconscious as “tyrannical” and “persecutorial.” One doesn’t need to look far in the world to find tyrannical forces run amok. They exist in Israel, the United States, Russia, China, and probably many other places. They exist because something “new” is emerging which is a threat to the old order, and they exist because of the archetypal content attached. There is an archetypal defense against new life. Pathological forces also exist because tyranny is present in each one of us, inside our own psyche. How does one then access that intermediate space between both worlds? How does one effectively engage transitional space? In Trauma and the Soul, Kalsched argues that we need to call on better angels and that behind the clash of opposites, there seems to be something else “waiting” for us to make a choice – or not. His book stems from Jungian thought and differs from some of his other predecessors by showing that the self-care system has inherent archetypal positive qualities as well, as long as they are called upon. Just like Job, one needs to take a stand against tyrannical forces and look deep inside one’s heart to choose love over hate. It seems trite when put in such a way, but if one is traveling through a thick forest, it’s easy to lose one’s way. Luckily, like Virgil in Dante’s Inferno, Kalsched is there to help guide us.

[Kim Coenen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek lijkt me een erg interessant, leerzaam en bijzonder boek. Ik lees best wel wat neurowetenschappelijke en psychologische boeken, maar dit boek, dat een spirituele twist maakt, maakt me extra nieuwsgierig. Hoe benadert en analyseert Donald Kalsched trauma's door middel van een psycho-spirituele benadering? Ik ben erg benieuwd naar zijn kennis en inzichten.  

Veel mensen lopen gedurende hun leven trauma's op. Donald Kalsched weet het proces dat ieder mens kan doormaken bij een diep opgelopen trauma goed te beschrijven. Het verhaal begint bij de oorsprong van het trauma. Is er bijvoorbeeld sprake van fysieke of emotionele verwaarlozing of mishandeling waardoor een onbewust verdedigingsmechanisme in werking wordt gezet om het onschuldige kind te beschermen? Dit vroegere mechanisme kan op volwassen leeftijd tot disfunctionele situaties leiden. Donald Kalsched laat door middel van het werk van Jung en andere psychologen en psycho-modellen het helingsproces te beschrijven van trauma, via afweer naar herstel. Hij beschrijft het spirituele proces waarbij de ziel afdaalt naar de hel waaruit ze later gered wordt. Door middel van verschillende voorbeelden en verhalen van patiënten vertelt Donald Kalsched hoe de menselijke ziel en de diepte van de geest door middel van een niet-alledaagse werkelijkheid tot een diepgaande transformatie kunnen leiden.

Het boek is zonder twijfel een bijzonder, origineel, indrukwekkend en interessant verhaal. Donald Kalsched heeft een boeiende schrijfstijl, al kan hij bij tijden wel erg afdwalen en zichzelf verliezen in lange uiteenzettingen en analyses. Toch is zijn verhaal, als je tot de kern komt, een indrukwekkend, fascinerend en boeiend verhaal over hoe trauma's door middel van psychotherapie met een spirituele en mythologische blik trauma's kunnen helen.

Donald Kalsched weet zijn verhaal erg goed op te bouwen en begint bij de kern en het begint met het oplopen van het trauma. De manier waarop hij een trauma beschrijft als het doven van de 'vitale vonk' vind ik een erg passende beschrijving en ook de wijze waarop hij de splitsing waarin dissociatie plaatsvindt weet te beschrijven is bijzonder krachtig. Ik vind dat hij zijn verhaal erg goed  onderbouwd door verschillende (bekende) psychologen en hun psycho-modellen aan te halen die hij toetst aan zijn eigen inzichten en praktijkvoorbeelden.

Ik vind het interessant hoe hij het proces van trauma op verschillende wijzen bekijkt. In de mythologie, waarvan ik een aantal voorbeelden nogal erg ver gezocht vond. Wel vond ik zijn uiteenzetting van een verloop van trauma aan de hand van Dante's inferno van de hel mooi gevonden. Hij wist me echt te pakken de voorbeelden van trauma's aan de hand van het verhaal van 'De kleine prins' en het sprookje van Grimm 'Het meisje zonder handen'. Hierbij wist hij me inspirerende inzichten te geven.

Ik vind Trauma en de ziel een boeiend, origineel en interessant verhaal over het proces van de heling van een trauma vanuit een psycho-spirituele benadering. Donald Kalsched weet zijn kennis, inzichten en analyses goed te onderbouwen, ook vanuit andere psychologen en psychologische modellen, mythologie en sprookjes. Wel vond ik hem soms langdradig en wijde hij erg uit waardoor het verhaal en zijn kennis in mijn ogen wat de kracht verliest. Toch is zijn kennis en zijn analyse rondom het heling van een trauma vanuit een spirituele kijk erg boeiend. Als je openstaat voor een spirituele benadering van een trauma en een boek zoekt met onderbouwing en diepgang, dan vind ik het boek zeker een aanrader. 

[A Low Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donald Kalsched really likes dream analysis. Like really really. And I dig that that’s his thing, because he had a pretty profound understanding of trauma in his own way. I find it very interesting that each person in the healing arts has their own way into getting to know the other as their patient/client, and that their lens, however wild or different than other practitioners, can still be incredibly useful for them.

As a therapist, I like identifying themes of dreams, but I’m not going to go in depth to figure out what the swimming bear or lampshade on fire in the middle of your office REALLY means. So as Kalshed went on and on about the dreams of different clients to illustrate the themes of his chapters, I lost a bit of interest.

What I took away from this was both an appreciation for a Jungian slant when working with clients whose currently of thought is metaphors, myths and the spiritual. Where I started to spin out was on the overwhelming patriarchy of the profession. I don’t think Kalsched is misogynistic or overtly sexist in any way, but he’d a product of his culture. By using cultural archetypes, artistic symbols and Judeo-Christian based mythos, he’s entrenching himself de facto in that patriarchy by not questioning what’s behind those mythic façades. I come to being a therapist as a clinical social worker, and I chose that track because it grounds itself in understanding our intersectional identity as we come into relationship with others. All the brilliant men who contributed to the understanding of the psyche did so while taking for granted the cultural imperialism and sexism that they’re rooted in. The more our profession develops and the more our culture reckons with our history, the more we need to examine the groundwork of psychoanalysis. We can still take the lovely, dreamy myth-sacred emphasis Jung gave to the therapeutic approach and factor in colonization and misogyny.

[Lluis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Trauma and the Soul" es una obra del psicoanalista junguiano Donald Kalsched que profundiza en la intersección entre el trauma psicológico y la dimensión espiritual del ser humano.

Kalsched utiliza diálogos terapéuticos y análisis de sueños, para ilustrar cómo la psicoterapia profunda con sobrevivientes de traumas puede abrir a ambos participantes a una realidad no ordinaria. Este mundo mito-poético, según el autor, no es simplemente un producto defensivo de nuestra lucha con las duras realidades de la vida, sino una constante en la experiencia humana, un misterio que a menudo está en el centro del proceso de sanación y que, en ocasiones, curiosamente, se resiste a él.

Para aquellos interesados en la psicología junguiana, donde se entrelazan conceptos como sueños, sincronicidades, ciencia, arquetipos y alquimia, "Trauma and the Soul" ofrece una perspectiva enriquecedora.

La obra ha sido bien recibida entre psicoterapeutas, psicoanalistas, psicólogos analíticos con una orientación espiritual. Kalsched logra restaurar el misterio en el trabajo psicoanalítico, narrando historias de pacientes y terapeutas que, al trabajar juntos, vislumbran la realidad del alma humana y la profundidad del espíritu.

En resumen, "Trauma and the Soul" es una lectura esencial para quienes buscan comprender cómo el trauma interrumpe el desarrollo humano y cómo la integración de enfoques psicoespirituales puede facilitar la sanación y la recuperación de la totalidad del ser.

[Erik Steevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended to those who have had therapy concerning child traumas.
Indeed, the book is also written for therapists, and it might shine a different light on approaching traumas and depression.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profoundly rich exploration of trauma and dissociation that weaves Jungian thought with insights from classic psychoanalytic authors (Freud, Winnicott, Bion), as well as contemporary neuroscience (Siegel, Schore). In addition, Kalsched uses case material in dialogue with metaphor, literature and poetry in way that really makes the material come alive to me. His examination of Dante's Inferno and St. Exupery's Little Prince are especially poignant. When I read Kalsched, I know I am a Jungian.

[Elis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary work on the underworld of our psyche.

[Dominique Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely sensational read. So insightful and engaging. So much wisdom. So much soul.

[Margje · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒎𝒂 𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒆 𝒛𝒊𝒆𝒍 – 𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒅 𝑲𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅


Een boek voor psychologen, therapeuten en coaches.
Donald Kalsched is een klinische– en analytische psycholoog en heeft een kliniek in Burnswick Maine.

“Te midden van deze schoonheid is mijn ziel gerust en voel ik vrede.”

Er zijn twee werelden. In een ervan is er een zelfmoordaanslag in het Afghaanse Kandahar gepleegd. Veel doden, veel gewonden, veel bloed, gehuil en wanhoop.
In een andere wereld is er de rust van de Atlantische Oceaan. Het geluid van de golven die op de rotsen breken, de vogels die langs vliegen. Een prachtige schoonheid. De vraag is, hoe leef je ten volle tussen deze 2 werelden.

Want wat als een onschuldig kind zichzelf moet beschermen? En welk proces maakt ze dan door als het kind een diep trauma oploopt tijdens deze onschuldige jaren?
Donald Kalched neemt je mee door het proces van verdedigingsmechanismen en de mystieke of spirituele momenten die zich vaak voordoen in psychoanalytisch werk.

“Er bestaat een pijn- zo extreem dat ze heel je leven opslokt en de afgrond dan in de Trance hult. Dus stapte je geheugen eromheen, erdoor, erover, om als bedwelmd veilig verder te gaan, waar een open oog hem laat vallen, been voor been.”
©Emily Dickinson 1961: 599

Het zelfzorgsysteem, zoals Khaled het noemt, beschermt ons tegen ernstig trauma in ons leven. Door dit systeem wordt een stukje van jezelf opgesplitst om later in je leven weer vorm te kunnen geven aan dat stukje ziel wat beschadigd werd.
Khaled legt met behulp van vele voorbeelden van zijn patiënten uit dat het helingsproces een spiritueel proces is. We gaan via dromen van de ziel, naar Dante’s inferno en alle lagen van de hel en beginnen bij Limbo. De bovenste laag van de hel. Hoe overleef je een afschuwelijk trauma, wat boor je aan in jezelf om te overleven. Dan volgt de kinderlijke onschuld en de centrale rol, gebaseerd op De Kleine Prins van St. Exupery. Waar blijft dat stukje van je ziel en hoe haal je die gebroken ziel terug. Aan het einde is er aandacht voor patronen in relaties en lichaamsgerichte neurowetenschappen.

Het is een enorm ingewikkeld proces en het boek is niet altijd even makkelijk om te lezen, maar het geeft je vele inzichten in hoe de geest van de mens werkt. We hebben een geraffineerd verdedigingsmechanisme dat vaak de kern van het zelf te hulp snelt als er trauma toeslaat.

Compassie voelen voor het kind in je. Psychotherapeut Carl Gustav Jung beschreef dat, als de geest niet in het lichaam kan blijven, hij naar het onbewuste uitwijkt. Trauma’s, bijna-doodervaringen, dromen, het onbewuste, duisternis en wanhoop doorlopen, voordat je weer kunt helen. Het proces van trauma’s verwerken is zwaar en niet altijd helend.

“Door de woeste dalen fluitend
verzen vol van fijne vreugd,
zag ik op een wolk een kind
en het lachte en het zei:
‘Fluit een lied over een lam!’
Dus ik floot met blij gemoed.
‘Fluiter, fluit dat lied opnieuw!’
En hij huilde wijl ik floot.”
©songs of innocense Blake 1971:34



Genre: non-fictie
Uitgever: AnkhHermes
ISBN: 9789020221343
Pagina’s: 512
Uitvoering: paperback
Uitgave: juni 2024
Dank aan uitgeverij AnkhHermes voor het recensie-exemplaar.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have complicated feelings about this one.

Kalsched uses his background in Jungian analysis to theorize and explain the "mytho-poetic" nature of inner experience for many survivors of complex attachment trauma. So many incredible stories and themes that resonate with my professional work. I learned so much about Jung himself as a survivor of complex trauma. I really appreciated Kalsched's incorporation of Schore and McGilchrist to explain the difference between dissociated and integrated experience. I was so touched by his allegorical use of The Little Prince. In some of his Jung-inspired explanations of how psychotherapy heals, I even caught glimpses of the memory reconsolidation process which made my heart happy!

I tend to be wary of Jungian perspectives because of the lurking association with "The Deep Masculine" ideology; I did not recognize this agenda in Kalsched's writing, however. What does seem like a miss to me was the (apparent) lack of global perspectives on Jungian tradition. For instance, if I am not mistaken, Kalsched's representation of Jungian dream analysis seems to imply that there are some universal themes across human experience that suggest a universal psychospiritual essence. I would really love to hear some additional (non-white, non-Western) voices validate and/or challenge this assertion.

Finally, for all of his incredibly rich thought and experience in the area of dissociation, (and, again, unless I am mistaken) Kalsched fails to include ANY of Janet's theory and contributions in this work. Towards the very end of the book, Kalsched is summarizing Winnicot's ignorant and pathologizing critique of Jung's autobiography, and himself makes some equally and irritatingly ignorant and pathologizing implications about dissociative responses and identity (that amnesic dissociation is equated with psychosis; that co-consciousness and dissociative identities are always mutually exclusive). This pathologizing view that refuses to see dissociation as a dynamic experience that exists along a continuum (including refusing to acknowledge the current DSM diagnosis of OSDD!) is an accurate representation of the failure to listen to survivors, both within psychoanalysis and mental health treatment at large.

That said, Kalsched's work is a labor of love to carry Jung's legacy and personal story as a survivor of attachment trauma to another generation of clinicians.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Where men can’t live gods fare no better." So says the old man in The Road.
Do the gods exist outside man or inside man?
The orientational metaphor of inside/outside with it’s suggestion that ‘the real’ exists somewhere on the outside end of the continuum is important in Kalsched’s psycho-spiritual approach. He doesn’t get involved in theological discussions about the reality of the gods, about whether they exist outside. His interpretation of Jung is of a system of spiritual presences that are entirely internal, like the information within an acorn (to use a metaphor from Hillman). It’s all inside us.
Interestingly, I’ve just recently finished reading How Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures by Robin Dunbar. Dunbar’s focus is very much on the communal, social aspects of spirituality and he ignores what seems very clear reading Kalsched, namely, how the individual experience of religion can help strengthen and preserve human beings.

Kalsched’s self-care system seems to be based on a New-Testament Christian model, with its innocent child at the core, and it’s loving god or goddess. It’s not a system based on the essential blood-thirsty violence at the heart of the world, such as we might see in Aztec religion. I felt that Kalsched’s view of the violent/dark end of the mytho-poetic was that it was generally considered problematic rather than healthy or positive, or even necessary. It wasn’t that his approach had a moral dimension, but that it was based on the ‘good news’ of the new testament; a loving god, forgiveness, new life, etc. I don’t mean this as a criticism, just an observation.

I haven’t read much Jung so I really appreciated the descriptions of Jung’s ideas. I especially liked the story of the boy Jung hiding a mannikin in a pencil box in his attic. And this mannikin representing for Jung a soul figure that he was protecting as he went into the outside world. I liked the correspondence between Jung’s first and second personalities, and Winnicott’s True and False selves, although I understand these ideas don’t overlap simplistically and cleanly.

One of the things I enjoy about Kalsched is his stress on the importance of affect and feeling. Jungians can get very involved with the image, to the extent that they can sometimes become quite abstract. Not so in this book.

Anyway, lots to enjoy and mull over.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donald Kalsched beschrijft in Trauma en de Ziel het proces dat mensen doormaken na diep trauma, vaak veroorzaakt door fysieke of emotionele verwaarlozing of mishandeling. Hij legt uit hoe verdedigingsmechanismen het innerlijke kind beschermen, maar later in het volwassen leven problemen kunnen veroorzaken. Met behulp van Jungiaanse inzichten toont Kalsched aan dat traumaherstel een spirituele reis is, waarbij de ziel een helende transformatie ondergaat. Door patiëntverhalen te delen, ontwikkelt hij een geïntegreerde psycho-spirituele benadering van trauma, met aandacht voor relationele en lichaamsgerichte aspecten. Dit werk biedt een diepgaand inzicht in psychoanalytisch herstel.


Donald Kalsched, een klinisch psycholoog en psychoanalyticus, combineert in zijn werk inzichten uit zijn praktijkervaring met Jungiaanse theorieën.

In 'Trauma en de Ziel' onderzoekt hij de complexe impact van trauma op de menselijke ziel, met nadruk op een spirituele benadering. Zijn theorieën worden versterkt door casestudies en klinische voorbeelden, die de praktische toepassing van zijn ideeën verduidelijken.

In de innerlijke wereld van het trauma bespreekt de auteur hoe trauma zowel de uiterlijke als de innerlijke wereld van een persoon verstoort. Hij gebruikt Jungiaanse archetypen om uit te leggen hoe trauma diepgewortelde reacties oproept die zowel destructief als helend kunnen zijn. Verbeelding en symboliek spelen een cruciale rol in het herstelproces, waarbij technieken zoals actieve verbeelding en droomanalyse helpen om traumatische herinneringen te integreren en de psyche te herstellen.

Hoewel sommige passages voor lezers zonder vakinhoudelijke achtergrond wat complex kunnen zijn, is Trauma en de Ziel een interessante leeservaring boordevol informatie en inzichten. Deze kunnen bijdragen aan een dieper begrip van de psycho-spirituele kijk op trauma, en maken het boek tot een aanrader voor iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in Jungiaanse psychologie en spiritueel inzicht in trauma.

[Emir Akel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable book that explores the psycho-spiritual aspects of severe trauma and the healing process that helps victims recover. Dr. Kalsched discusses the archetypical divisions that occur after trauma, which shape the post-traumatic psychological pathology of the victim. The concept of the "Daimnos" works against the victim's own interests, trapping the Ego behind the trauma. This process often exacerbates the effects of the trauma after the event. One key aspect of the Daimnos is highlighted in the statement: "The reaction to a trauma-invoking event itself causes PTSD."

Dr. Kalsched later examines the Daimnos in relation to various psychologists, including Adler, Piaget, Winnicott, Freud, and Jung. Additionally, the Daimnos is represented in folk tales and mythological stories. For example, its negative aspect is embodied as the evil witch in "Rapunzel," where the Ego is trapped in a tower (like Rapunzel herself). In the story of Psyche and Eros, the Daimnos is symbolized by Aphrodite.

The other part of this archetype represents the "savior" aspect, which aids in the healing process. This is generally the part of the soul that psychoanalysts aim to engage with, symbolized as the Charming Prince in "Rapunzel."

The book also analyzes the dreams of patients documented by Dr. Kalsched, as well as those of Jung and Freud's patients. Here, the archetypical symbols appear as simulacra in dreams, providing valuable insights for psychoanalysts to explore their relationships with patients, the patients' past traumas, and their reactions to disclosing those experiences to a third party.

[Winged_Monkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So i've read this book and finished it a few weeks ago. I am a bit devastated and frustrated that there is little to no solution to the internal persecutor re-traumatizing their victims over and over every time they try to make positive steps forward and move out of trauma. The second part of the book using fairy tales just didn't cut it and give me any solutions to some serious therapeutic problems which are addressed throughout the whole book.

Now I am reading the introduction of his newer book Trauma and the Soul and he writes: "In the clinical practice that formed the basis for The Inner World of Trauma, I was so obsessed with the tyrannical negative forces within this system and their daimonic power to undermine hope and incite clients to recurrent compulsion (Freud, 1926) that I suggested that the self-care system was largely uneducable. I no longer hold such a pessimistic view."

So in a way I maybe wish I read the second book first because of this. So I just ordered the second book and will continue to do the Work. I hope to find some deeper explanations, help and answers to the demons/inner persecutors that are met when working with trauma.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me 5 years to finish this book. Despite my valiant efforts, my appreciation for it is mediocre at best because my intellectual grasp of its depths is mediocre at best. Nevertheless, I am left with profound quotes and material, and a deep reverie for this huge undertaking by Kalsched - a true scholar and Jungian devotee. If I was a Jungian practicioner, this book would sit at my table always to reference and tap into its spirit for taking care of trusted souls. But I am not, and 5 years at my table is plenty and I’m grateful for how it has tendered my heart as I slowly slogged through this book, my own therapy, trauma and my soul..

[Mephistopheles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fabulous exploration of trauma and the soul, and the self-care system as explored in his previous book, The Inner World of Trauma. He deepens his exploration of his theory, and adds some more hope, after twenty more years of experience. There are several chapters devoted to the numinous aspects of the self care system, one particularly moving chapter about near death experiences, along with an exploration about the dangerous aspects of the self care system (he uses Dante's inferno as a guide). My one concern is that the theory might be a little all-encompassing, but I find myself convinced by his overall structure.