The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit

by Donald Kalsched

Donald Kalsched explores the interior world of dream and fantasy images encountered in therapy with people who have suffered unbearable life experiences. He shows how, in an ironical twist of psychical life, the very images which are generated to defend the self can become malevolent and destructive, resulting in further trauma for the person. Why and how this happens are the questions the book sets out to answer.
Drawing on detailed clinical material, the author gives special attention to the problems of addiction and psychosomatic disorder, as well as the broad topic of dissociation and its treatment. By focusing on the archaic and primitive defenses of the self he connects Jungian theory and practice with contemporary object relations theory and dissociation theory. At the same time, he shows how a Jungian understanding of the universal images of myth and folklore can illuminate treatment of the traumatised patient.
Trauma is about the rupture of those developmental transitions that make life worth living. Donald Kalsched sees this as a spiritual problem as well as a psychological one and in The Inner World of Trauma he provides a compelling insight into how an inner self-care system tries to save the personal spirit.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Psychoanalysis, Self Help, Mental Health, Spirituality, Neuroscience

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 1996

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

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it love it love it. The first two sections were more difficult for me to digest fully, but the use of fairy tales in the third section ties it all together beautifully...the clinical case studies and comparisons of psychological theories in the first two sections combined with the use of fairy tales in the third illustrate the author's premise that there is an archtypal "daimonic" spirit that protects the traumatized individual/ego from further harm.

A few months ago while reading this book I thought of a friend I had become somewhat distant from. I thought of how entrenched he was in his world of dark fantasy; Norse mythology, Dungeons and Dragons, and other themes of adventure, darkness, and struggle. He seemed to me to be so entrenched in that world of dark fantasy that he was not really able to be present in this world. The day after reading and thinking of him I went to work and learned that this friend had commited suicide. This book helped me to understand the importance of Bryan's taking refuge in his dark world of fantasy as a way of surviving. And yet the survival was only for a part of himself; not the whole. Kalsched describes the archetypal process that one must go through in order to become fully whole, and to bridge the gap between the human and the divine. And this process, as illustrated in the archetypal themes of all major religions, entails a journey filled with suffering. It saddens me that Bryan was not able to bridge this gap...the horrors of his childhood - and perhaps the archetypal daimon within him - caused him to take permanent refuge in his dark fantasy world...the cost of the friction between that world and reality was his own life.

Kalsched notes that there are "always" forces or entreaties from the "concrete" world that beckon one away from the world of fantasy, and that these are the opportunities we must take to go forward on the journey, and to leave behind the safety and comfort of the internal world we create for ourselves.

This book has helped me to understand and increase my level of empathy -for friends, myself, patients - for the resistance that is shown in the process of growth. Resistance in therapy and in relationships is extremely challenging, and often frustrating. This book offers a way to view this resistance as form of survival for the traumatized individual.

I highly, highly recommend it to anyone interested in how childhood trauma effects the psychological and spiritual dimensions of development...and how difficult it is for us to leave behind those magical worlds of fantasy that we create in order to survive.

[Nida Vildžiūnaitė · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paskutinis skyrius, kuriame pasakų analizė, simbolių ir terapijos aiškinimas yra tai, ko seniai ieškojau. Ir toliau planuoju domėtis pasakos terapija, todėl Jungo aiškinimas čia labai svarbus. Knygoje Jungo daug, supratau pagrindinį traumos poveikį, kai skyla savastis ir dalis jos regresuoja. Kaip tai pasireiškia gyvenime, kaip matoma sapnuose, elgesyje ir kokias išeitis siūlo psichoterapija bei pasakų terapija, kt.

Koks minusas? Tiek daug psichoanalitikų, jų veiklos, teorijų palyginimų. Tiek daug terminų, net galva spengia, sudėtinga suprasti, lieka maišatis. Duočiau keturis, bet neskaičiau kitos panašios, todėl ji man labai vertinga žiniomis, jų gausa.

[Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Na ir Knyga. Kelionė su ja prasidėjo prieš kelerius metus: aš du kartus buvau pradėjusi, įpusėjusi ją ir atidėjusi. Tik trečią kartą pradėjus nuo pradžių perskaičiau iki paskutinio puslapio.
Tai nėra lengvas kūrinys. Reikia laiko ir nusiteikimo žengiant į šį analitinį traumos nagrinėjimą. Kalsched turi išskirtinį žvilgsnį šia tema ir jį paremia kitų autorių (ypač Jungo bei neo-jungistų) mintimis. Pabaigoje viskas bandoma iliustruoti mitais bei pasakomis kartu su jų analize. Man tai buvo labai naudinga ir informatyvu, lyg kokį šydą nutraukus nuo sudėtingų, nesuvokiamų dalykų.
Visomis prasmėmis naudinga knyga. Ji pravers tiek siekiant suprasti save, tiek dirbant su psichologinėmis traumomis. Ši knyga suskamba ir šių dienų kontekste. Rekomenduoju. Nusiteikit, kad nebus itin lengva skaityti, bet verta.

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

Increadible read on the mechanisms of dissociational protection of self from trauma.
What astounded me most:
- reference to an angel not allowing a child to come into a room where she would fin her father after his suicide,
- reference to a child who would reconstruct an escape world from bits from books and various literary worlds.
Overall illuminating read and a must re-read. Such a profound work cannot be intellectualised in one sitting.

[Dovilė Stonė]

Žvaigždutėmis nevertinsiu, nes jungistinė psichologija nėra mano arkliukas. Jei vertinčiau, stipriai muščiau balą už logikos spragas, klampų įmantravimą, bereikalingą misticizmą, kur jau nebesuprasi, čia alegorija ar rimtai tuo tikima, ir selektyvų religinių tekstų/istorijų/pasakų pritempinėjimą prie savo teorinio naratyvo.
Bet tai būtų ne visai sąžininga, nes iš knygos pasiėmiau labai daug vertingų įžvalgų apie darbą su vaikystėje traumuotais klientais ir apskritai apie traumos veikimo mechanizmą. Ne tiek kaip 'iš tiesų' veikia trauma, o kaip būtų galima apie ją kalbėti ir padėti klientui/sau ją struktūruotis ar net vizualizuotis.
Tų įžvalgų empiriškai niekaip nepatikrinsi, užtat praktikoje galima kažkokią analogiją ar pavyzdį ištraukti - tinkamu laiku, su tinkamu klientu.

Dvi išvados apie traumą:

"Pirma išvada: traumuota psichika traumuoja pati save. Nutrūkus išoriniam smurtui trauma niekur nedingsta, ji ir toliau veikia vidinį aukos pasaulį. Į nukentėjusiųjų sapnus dažnai įsibrauna juos persekiojantys vidiniai personažai.
Antra išvada iš pirmo žvilgsnio atrodo keista: psichologinės traumos auka nuolat atsiduria tokiose gyvenimo situacijose, kad jai tenka vis iš naujo patirti traumą. Kad ir kaip žmogus norėtų pasikeisti, kad ir kaip stengtųsi pataisyti savo gyvenimą ar tarpusavio santykius, kažkas stipresnis už ego nuolat trukdo žengti į priekį ir griauna viltis. Regis, vidinis persekiotojas, siekdamas atkartoti “pasidavimo” veiksmą, suranda savo atspindį išoriniame pasaulyje, atrodo, kad individą apsėdo kokia nors šėtoniška galia ar ištiko bloga lemtis."

Disociacija:

"Susidūrusi su traumuojančia patirtimi, psichika paprastai stengiasi nuo jos užsisklęsti. Jei tai neįmanoma, reikia uždaryti bent kurią nors savasties dalį. Kad tai įvyktų, vientisas ego turi susiskaidyti į dalis, arba disocijuotis. Disociacija yra normali psichikos gynybos nuo galimai žalingo traumos poveikio dalis [...]. Disociacija yra gudrybė, kuria psichika apgauna pati save. Atskirdama nepakeliamą patirtį ir išdėliodama ją į skirtingus kūno ir sielos stalčiukus, ypač į pasąmonines sielos ir kūno dalis, ji leidžia žmogui toliau gyventi. Kai taip nutinka, paprastai vientisiems sąmonės elementams (tokiems kaip kognityvinis suvokimas, emocijos, pojūčiai, vaizduotė) nebeleidžiama susijungti. Patirtis tampa netolydi. Proto sukurti vaizdiniai gali atsiskirti nuo emocijų, emocijos ir vaizdiniai gali atsisieti nuo sąmoningo žinojimo. Iškyla su elgesio kontekstu nesusiję praeities paveikslai. Atmintyje atsiranda spragų - žmogus, kurio gyvenimą sutrikdė trauma, negali papasakoti savo gyvenimo istorijos.
Nepakeliamą skausmą patyrusiam žmogui disociacinis gynybos būdas padeda toliau gyventi išorinį gyvenimą, bet už tai tenka mokėti didelę vidinę kainą. Traumavimas iš išorės liaujasi, gal net “užmirštamas” jo poveikis, bet psichologiniai traumos padariniai ir toliau trikdo vidinį gyvenimą. "

Kodėl geriau atsargiai konfrontuoti:

"Turime prisiminti, kad žmogus, turintis disocijuotos traumos patirtį, integraciją ir vientisumą iš pradžių laiko pačiu baisiausiu įsivaizduojamu dalyku. Šie žmonės, skirtingai nei įprasti psichoanalizės pacientai, nepajunta jėgų antplūdžio ar darbingumo padidėjimo pirmą kartą į sąmonę iškilus išstumtai emocijai ar traumuojančiai patirčiai. Jie apmiršta, susiskaido, išsilieja, suserga psichosomatinėmis ligomis arba ima piktnaudžiauti kvaišalais. Vientisos jų savasties egzistencija priklausė nuo primityvių disociacijos operacijų, kurios neleido integruoti traumos ir su ja susijusių emocijų, o prireikus net ir skaldė ego savastį į dalines asmenybes. Todėl jų psichoanalizės metodai turi būti švelnesni už įprastus aiškinimus ir atkūrimą, kuriuos pakaitomis taikome analizėje. Privalu sukurti saugią fizinę ir tarpasmeninę erdvę, kad joje galėtų kilti sapnai ir fantazijos. Su šiais irgi reikėtų dirbti žaismingai, laisvai, netaikant psichoanalizėje įprastų aiškinimų."

Kūno-proto balansas terapijoje:

"Psichoterapijai gresia pavojus tapti pernelyg “protine” veikla (daugiažodžiavimu) ir prarasti ryšį su kūnu. Kai taip nutinka, psichoterapija pameta ir psichiką. Ir atvirkščiai, dirbant vien su kūnu kyla pavojus išlaisvinti per daug somatinės energijos; grynos emocijos nevirs vaizdiniais ir žodžiais, todėl protas nepajėgs jų aprėpti ir suvokti. Jei iš kūno kylančios emocijos neįmanoma perduoti kitiems žmonėms verbaline ar simbolių kalba, ji nepasiekia prasmės lygmens, kuriame slypi psichika. Taigi, dirbant vien su kūnu irgi galima pamesti psichiką. Jei taip nutinka, pokyčiai tampa neįmanomi."

Depersonalizacija:

"[...] ištikus ankstyvai traumai saviglobos sistema nebegali leisti visiems patirties elementams vienu metu būti vienoje vietoje, todėl ima traukyti somatinių ir psichinių patirties komponentų saitus. Somatiniai ir psichiniai elementai yra skirtingi, todėl galima sakyti, kad gynybinė saviglobos sistema naudojasi psichikos ir kūno skirtumais ir atitinkamai paskirsto patirtį. Emocijos ir jutiminė patirtis lieka kūne, o psichiniai aspektai uždaromi mintyse. Žmogus protu nebegali suvokti somatinių pojūčių ir kūno sujaudinimo būsenų, t. y. jis neleidžia savo protui kūno impulsų paversti žodžiais ar vaizdiniais ir taip suteikti jiems pavidalą. Kūno siunčiamas žinias reikia vienaip ar kitaip atmesti, palikti ikisimboliniu pavidalu. Toks žmogus neranda žodžių nusakyti jausmams, ir tai yra didelis trūkumas. Jis negali psichiškai apdoroti jutiminės patirties - žaisti su simbolinėmis reikšmėmis, - todėl netenka galimybės pasijusti iš tikrųjų ir visiškai gyvas. Ši tragiška būsena vadinama depersonalizacija."

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book completely re-shaped my thinking around the way that that archtypal, or primitive, brain responds to physical and psychological trauma. It takes a while to get through but it's worth it. If you're at all interested in this field, you MUST incorporate this book into your learning. However, I suggest you pick up your highlighter and post-its before reading; there are many brilliant insights and quotes you will want to mark!

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read this book 3 times: 2004, 2010 and today I just finished it for the third time. As I set it down, gratitude and calm arise.This is a profoundly intense and thorough study of trauma and it provides ways the therapist can guide her patient to healing. Kalsched is at times very dense, requiring multiple reads of the same page until it is clearly understood. The effort is well worth it! This book has helped me more than any other to understand the archetypal underpinnings of depression, melancholy and disassociation. Although the pages are tattered and many sentences highlighted, this book will be read by me yet again in a few years. Like Jung, Von Franz and Hollis, Kalsched invites us into a depth of awareness about life in all its beauty and suffering.

[Vytautas Vyšniauskas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Knyga nuvylė, nes parodė ne vidinį traumos pasaulį, o vidinį jungiškos pakraipos psichoanalitiko fantazijų pasaulį. Labai jau pritemptai skamba tas pasakų gliaudymas jungiškos psichoanalizės net ne sąvokomis, o vaizdiniais.

Būta ir gerų įžvalgų, kurios kitaip suskamba plačiai išskleistame kontekste, nors dažnai būna žinomos ir be jo. Kaip antai: „Užuot ieškojęs prasmės jutiminėje patirtyje, protas primeta prasmę, kurią rado pirminėje trauminėje situacijoje“ (p. 112).Tai nėra banalus šališkumas, nes traumuoti žmonės, patyręs gilią neviltį, mato kur kas toliau ir giliau. Kaip teigia autoriaus cituojama Julia Kristeva, „Nevilties apimti žmonės tampa itin blaivūs, nes atsisako neigimo“ (p. 334). Tai pavojinga, nes tuo pat metu gali ir atverti tikrovę, ir ją užverti užmbombardavus ne visada tinkančiomis trauminėmis projekcijomis. Juk „gavę patvirtinimą kompleksai auga, it juodoji kosmoso skylė įtraukdami vis daugiau „realybės“, į destruktyvios prasmės sistemą įmaldami patirties trupinėlius“ (p. 162).

Vis dėlto pateikiama per daug mistifikacijų, kurios tiesą apie trauminius reiškinius viena ranka atidengia, o kita – vėl užmaskuoja. Dėl to kartais visai paprasti dalykai aiškinami per sudėtingesnes analogijas, kurios tą aiškumą tik ištirpdo, o tuo pačiu kartais leidžiami per dideli supaprastinimai, kurie sudėtingus dalykus padaro sau svetimais ir išaiškintais tiek, kad ten jau nebelabai pačių tų dalykų esama.

[Yitzchok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of my favorite excerpts from The Inner World of Trauma – Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit - by Donald Kalsched

The psyche’s natural anesthesia for the “cumulative trauma” in a childhood such as this renders most patients incapable of remembering specific traumatic events, much less experiencing them on an emotional level in analysis. Such was the case with Mrs. Y. We talked about the depravation in her early life, but we could not recover it experientially. Often, in my experience, it is not until some aspect of the early traumatic situation emerges in the transference that analyst and patient are given emotional access to the real problem… pg. 20
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If we understand “killing” in dreams, as an obliteration of awareness or profound dissociation, then we see that the psyche of the traumatized person cannot countenance re-exposure of the same vulnerable part-self representation as (apparently) occurred in the original traumatic situation. The original humiliating shame must be avoided at all costs. The price, however, is severance from the potentially “corrective” influence of reality. Here we have the psyche’s self-care system gone mad.

Like the immune system of the body, the self-care system carries out its functions by actively attacking what it takes to be “foreign” or “dangerous” elements. Vulnerable parts of the self’s experience in reality are seen as just such “dangerous” elements and are attacked accordingly. These attacks serve to undermine the hope in real object-relations and to drive the patient more deeply into fantasy. And just as the immune system can be tricked into attacking the very life it is trying to protect (auto-immune disease), so the self-care system can turn into a “self-destruct system” which turns the inner world into a nightmare of persecution and self-attack. Pg. 24
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…She found great resistance in herself which she could not rationally explain but which, we were able to discover, represented her resistance to being re-exposed to the potentially annihilating shame originating in her “forgotten” childhood trauma. It was as though her psyche was “remembering” an unthinkable similar event from long ago.

The reader will note that these assumptions about the dangers inherent in hoping for new life or relationship seem to be the same assumptions by which the patient’s inner terminator operates. In other words, in killing off her own feeling of hope, the patient acts in “identification with the aggressor” in herself – as if she is “possessed” by him. In this way the persecutory, anxiety-ridden inner world of trauma is recapitulated in outer life and the trauma victim is “compelled to repeat” the self-defeating behavior.

Such is the devastating nature of the trauma cycle and the resistance it throws up to psychotherapy. As Mrs. Y. and I worked through the resolution of her “trauma-complex” we encountered again and again the cycle of hope, vulnerability, fear, shame, and self-attack that always led to the predictable repetition of depression. Every moment of intimacy or personal accomplishment was an occasion for her daimon to whisper that it would all be taken from her, or that she didn’t deserve it, or that she was an imposter and a fraud and would soon be humiliated. Fortunately, we were able to work on this cycle in the intimacy of the transference/counter-transference relationship and could thereby “catch” the daimon at his tricks in the moment-to-moment changes of feeling during the sessions.

…In Jung’s language, we might say that the original traumatic situation posed such danger to personality survival that it was not retained in memorable personal form but only in daimonic archetypal form. This is the collective or “magical” layer of the unconscious and cannot be assimilated by the ego until it has been “incarnated” in a human interaction. As archetypal dynamism it “exists” in a form that cannot be recovered by the ego except as an experience of re-traumatization. Or, to put it another way, the unconscious repetition of traumatization in the inner world which goes on incessantly must become a real traumatization with an object in the world if the inner system is to be “unlocked.”

This is why a careful monitoring of transference/counter-transference dynamics is so important in our work with severe trauma. The patient wishes to depend upon the analyst, to “let go” of the self-care system, and get well again, but the system itself is much more powerful than the ego – at least initially, and so the patient inadvertently resists the very surrender to the process that would restore a feeling of spontaneity and aliveness. To hold these patients responsible for this resistance is a terrible mistake, not just technically but structurally and psycho-dynamically as well. The patient is already feeling blamed for some nameless “badness” inside, so interpretations which emphasize the patient’s “acting out” or avoidance of responsibility merely drive home the conviction of failure. In many respects it is not “they,” the patients, who resist the process at an ego level. Rather, their psyches are battlegrounds on which the titanic forces of dissociation and integration are at war over the traumatized personal spirit. The patient must, of course, become more conscious and responsible for a relationship to his or her tyrannical defenses, but this consciousness must include the humble realization that archetypal defense are much more powerful than the ego.

The prominence of the archetypal defense system explains why the “negative therapeutic reaction” is such a prominent feature in our work with these patients. Unlike the usual analytic patient, we must remember that for the person carrying around a dissociated trauma experience, integration or “wholeness” is initially experienced as the worst thing imaginable. These patients do not experience an increase of power or enhanced functioning when the repressed affects or traumatogenic experience first emerges into consciousness. They go numb, or split, or act out, somatize, or abuse substances. Their very survival as cohesive “selves” has depended upon primitive dissociative operations which resist integration of the trauma and its associated affects – even to the point of dividing up the ego’s “selves” into part-personalities. Pages 25,26,27
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Jung once said that “compulsion is the great mystery of human life” – an involuntary motive force in the psyche ranging all the way from mild interest to possession by a diabolical spirit. Pg. 28
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Archetypal defenses, then, allow for survival at the expense of individuation. They assure the survival of the person, but at the expense of personality development. Their “goal” as I have come to understand it, is to keep the personal spirit “safe” but disembodied, encapsulated, or otherwise driven out of the body/mind unity – foreclosed from entering time and space reality. Instead of slowly and painfully incarnating in a cohesive self, the volcanic opposing dynamisms of the inner world become organized around defensive purposes, constituting a “self-care system” for the individual. Instead of individuation and the integration of the mental life, the archaic defense engineer’s dis-incarnation (dis-embodiment) and dis-integration in order to help a weakened anxiety-ridden ego to survive, albeit as a partially “false” self. Pg. 38

[Simona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skaičiau šią kone mėnesį! Nes galėjau skaityt tik rytais, šviežia galva ir daugiausiai vieną skyrių. Kitu atveju pradėjus visiškai išskrisdavau ir pamesdavau mintis. Ir knygos, ir savo! 😅

Bendrai - buvo įdomu. Ne vienam žmogui skaitydama pasakojau kaip vidinė saviglobos sistema saugo traumuojamą psichiką taip, kad gali ją suskaidyti tam, kad išsaugotų sąvastį.

"Daugiau niekada traumuotai šio vaiko dvasiai nereikės taip baisiai kentėti! Daugiau niekada ji nebus tokia bejėgė žiaurios tikrovės akivaizdoje... Kad taip nenutiktų, suskaidysiu ją į fragmentus (disociacija), uždarysiu fantazijose ir jomis nuraminsiu (šizoidinis užsisklendimas), nuskausminsiu narkotinėmis medžiagomis (priklausomybė) arba persekiosiu, kad nepuoselėtų jokių vilčių šio pasaulio atžvilgiu (depresija)... Taip išsaugosiu tai, kas liko iš tos per anksti amputuotos vaikystės [...]."

Autorius gilinasi į vaikystės traumas, kurias taip sunku pakelti, kad lieka pasirinkimas tarp mirties arba asmenybės suskaidymo tam, kad ji išvyventų. Tačiau tai, kas padėjo išgyventi ekstremalias situacijas, trukdo toliau sklandžiai gyventi kasdienį gyvenimą.

Knygoje aiškinamos žmonių saviglobos sistemos ir jų vaizdiniai per archajinius mitus ir pasakas. Teorija iliustruojama ne tik archetipiniais pasakojimais, bet ir pacientų klinikiniais pavyzdžiais. Autorius tyrinėja tai, kas lieka pasąmonėje, ką ji mums sako ir kaip reiškiasi sapnuose, bei padeda žmogui "išgyventi save".

Vienoje knygos dalyje jis pristato ir diskutuoja su šias ir panašias temas tyrusiais specialistais. O knygą užbaigia išsamiai nagrinėdamas kelias senovines pasakas/mitus per psichologinę prizmę.

Man ji buvo labai įdomi, (kai skaitydavau pailsėjus), bet kartu ir vargino, ir slėgė, kad taip lėtai stūmiuosi, kad nepavyksta visko imt ir lengvai susidėti į galvą, kad su ja reikia dirbti. Ji man buvo iššūkis.

Bet įveikiau. Džiaugiuosi. O dabar virškinsiu ir ilsėsiuos. Chuch! 😅

[Steve Ellerhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald Kalsched is an astonishing person. I first read his second book, Trauma and the Soul: A Psycho-Spiritual Approach to Human Development and Its Interruption, and found it profound in its presentation of what he calls the self-care system. This book preceded that one, coming out in 1996, and it is where he first put the self-care system out there for our consideration. So I read the books, published seventeen years apart, out of order. As ya do.

My own sense is that the second book is more robust, a stronger iteration of the self-care system — which Kalsched describes as a means by which the psyche intervenes to protect the soul of a young person experiencing early trauma. When no one is around to help a young one process trauma, this inner defense mechanism uses fantasy to protect the child from the full force of the trauma. Over time, however, if the trauma is never dealt with and integrated, that inner defense mechanism turns on the person and terrorizes them in any number of ways. The danger is that the person is not able to live life fully because the self-care system is re-traumatizing them in an ongoing, misaligned attempt to protect them. The only cure is a love relationship, one in which the person's trauma is legitimized by the other and worked through together. As a depth psychologist, Kalsched recommends that this play out with a psychotherapist but he acknowledges it can occur in other relationships with people who truly do care about us and who will not BS or coddle us.

I really wanted to read this since I'd loved the other book so much. My friend Karen had told me about it — she read this one first and is currently reading the second one — so we've had reverse reading experiences! I still prefer the second book slightly more on the basis that, when he wrote it, Kalsched had seventeen more years of experience treating people and helping them break out of the self-care system. His confidence shines more in that one. But here we have a truly astonishing work in its own right, one that deserves attention and thought and discussion. I just counted fourteen tabs I added to it while reading, so there is much I wish to return to later. His engagement with the literature in his field is strong, as are his case studies and readings of myths. His take on the fairy tale "Fitcher's Bird" is worth the price of admission alone — I say any fairy tale that begins with a cruel, murderous husband proclaiming to his wife that he's given her everything she could ever want ("I gave you _____. I gave you _____. I gave you _____.") should end with her and her sisters burning him and his terrible friends and family to ashes. The way Kalsched uses this story to illustrate the danger of the self-care system — and the hope of breaking free from it — is the work of a special kind of healer. We are so lucky to have these books he's written.

[Estera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even for a professional, a pretty difficult read, enriched with specialized terms. However, extremely interesting case studies from the authors experience as well as from general mythology. So, I dropped a star for the occasional untelligibility and also as I felt that the book promised more than it delivered (like specific intervention methods).

[❀ Diana ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I enjoy about Kalshed's books is that he always provides stories from his personal experience/therapeutic sessions with clients and goes through each of them with explanations and what theory said explanation is based on. The Inner World of Trauma is no exception. Well-written and recommended for all clinical psychologists, from either the psychoanalysis school or others.

[Eirimė|Pusvalandis tylos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vienareikšmiškai geriausia skaityta knyga apie patirtas psichines traumas.
Labai įdomus sprendimas pateikti pavyzdžius per pasakų liniją, neužmirštant ir garsiu psicho mokslininkų kaip Carl Gustav Jung ir Sigmund Freud. Knyga įtraukianti ir nepaliekanti nežinioje.
Geriausios rekomendacijos!

[Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald Kalsched is truly phenomenal. This book is very complex and challenging but in its own, offers the deepest psychological approach to understand the human mind and it’s relationships with a persons’ inner traumatized child. Kalsched perfectly weaves examples of clinical psychotherapy, dreams, and mytho-poetical fairytales as avenues of analysis to understand the human relationship with our inner selfs.

[Zlati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Multiple reads required. Deep, dense and stunning work. I recommend his articles, too (e.g. Daemonic elements in early trauma).

[Anamaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excepțională!
Nici nu știu cum să încep ... Pot spune cu multă convingere că lumea noastră interioară este o lume care merită și trebuie explorată. Deși acest fapt implică multă durere și vindecarea se face asemenea decojirii unei cepe, procesul este teribil de greu și de frumos. O durere dulce (îmi place mult acest oximoron). Suntem mai mult decât credem. Și adevărata viață începe în momentul în care facem ca inconștientul să devină conștient. La fel ca orice prinț / prințesă din basme trebuie să parcurgem un drum inițiatic cu intenție pentru a ajunge la adevărata maturitate care implică iubire matură, acțiuni mature, prietenii mature. Așadar .... alegeri bune ca rezultat al cunoașterii profunde de sine prin compasiune și înfruntarea "daimonului".
"Aspectul central al unei relații primare perturbate este un sentiment primordial de vinovăție. Copilul neiubit se simte anormal, bolnav, ,,lepros" și condamnat."
"Furtunile afectelor ieșite din straturile arhaice ale psihicului sunt transformate numai dacă eul poate să suporte tensiunea dintre realitate și imaginație; în caz afirmativ, o imagine creativă (simbol) poate să ofere veriga între cele două lumi, adică poate să ofere o semnificație care ne permite să ,,scăpăm" de dinamismul separator al lumii arhetipale și să găsim drumul spre ,,casă", către o lume umană, gratificați cu energiile vitale ale lumii imaginare. "

[Alis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promising start, terrifying study cases which I loved to read, but went a bit downhill after the second half. I was hoping all the stories and myths would bring back the same vibe it had in the first chapters, but I think they could have been approached better.

[Anonymous Writer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening book about the way trauma is incorporated into the human soul through its mechanisms. The archetypal tapestry of the imaginary that opens up to several metaphorical meanings is representative to the understanding of the way trauma brings about the unprecedented coping mechanisms.

The golden treasure of the book consists not only in deciphering metaphors and associating them with trauma, but in the ingenious way trauma can be understood through such picturesque archetypes, deepening the insight about such phenomena with various epiphanies about its genesis. Mixing the area of psychiatry with the one of the symbolical imaginary proves to be the imprint of the Jungian psychotherapy, which the author firmly adheres. The second aim of this work is to reveal the treatment to the ailment, with the use of therapeutic stories, a re-interpretation of fairy tales that is linked to the traumatic episode, its consequences and its holistic integration into life.

If the mind hides its own unconscious, the world bears its own collective consciousness, as Jung strongly asserted in his works, building the foundation to his psychological school of thought. As dreams are spontaneous manifestations of the individual unconscious, that play a major role in bringing equilibrium to the mind, so fairy tales represent the hidden gem of the collective unconscious, the hazardous creation of the collective that is like a mirror of the collective soul. We can conclude that the role of fairy tales is to being wisdom and insight into the life of humans, while holding the principle of healing; it is the numinous archetype that frees the trapped soul.

Two metaphors prevail in the book, being at the heart of its themes. The first one is the one of the tower, an important motif that appears in various fairy-tales. Being both a prison and a space for protection, the tower speaks the language of fear, the fear of ever discovering the world, and shrinking into a cage, the inner world of phantasm. Here, the fantastic world of the inner self is presented as a refuge, as a way of dealing with pain. Closely related to introversion, the personality of the afflicted person tends to be prone to the realm of fantasy, the imaginary, the symbolical that also wants to usurp the role of reality, as the main negative effect.

The second symbolism is related to the reversed image of the guardian angel, that is is the "daimon", the most relevant icon for it. Metaphor for the unhealthy coping mechanisms, addictions, escapism etc, the archetypal figure of the angelic-devilish protector gives escape from pain in exchange for various valuable things, while also changing the spirit into something that is able to survive. The two-faced archetype has its own ambivalence.

The realm of the imaginary, with its symbolism, comes at the aid of healing post traumatic stress disorder, serving as a parallel universe that mirrors reality. Pictures will always appeal to the subconscious mind, the book it is like a hypnotic trance from which the reader becomes more sharp in understanding and applying a healing balsam to his inner wounds. The subconscious and the conscious, the reality and fiction, the real and the symbolical, they both mold into each other, switching the order, the center to the meaning the reader is supposed to decipher by re-interpreting his experience.

[Povilas Šulcas · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most difficult books I've read. Had to do it twice and I think I will do it again in some time. A lot of terminology to google throughout the book. First part is more technical, which can put you down, but it gets clearer once the case studies start. A little scary to recognize some of the things in yourself or your close ones, but definitely worth the read.

[Mike Kirakossian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring approach to analytical psychology, sheds light on early trauma synthesizing the core of most dissociative and borderline disorders. Very much enjoyable where the author tackles the inner working of the self-care system in the human psyche and how it torments the inner world of a traumatized patient for the preservation of a vital part of the personality from total disintegration through clinical cases anchoring them to mythology.

[Justinas · Rating 4 out of 5]

1) Knyga įtikinanti. Autorius pirmiausiai pristato savo požiūrį, pagrindžia jį pavyzdžiais, tada apžvelgia, ką apie tai yra sakę kiti tyrėjai. Paskutinėje dalyje interpretuoja pasakas.
2)Buvo sunkoka priprasti prie terminų gausos ir atsekti, kas ką reiškia. Kurie terminai reiškia tą patį dalyką, kurie skirtingą. Praverstų papildoma pagalbinė knygos dalis apie terminų reikšmes.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and insightful book on how victims of trauma end of becoming self-traumatizers. Jungian-based psychology, including some really interesting interpretations of a handful of fairy tales.

[Ira · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, the Jungian approach is both a creative and compassionate endeavor. It seeks to recognize the multivalent nature of life, seeing both ways, and there’s a beauty and the deep resonance in that, especially considering my personal life experience. This book remains true to its analytical and Jungian psychology roots while broadening its scope to introduce other psychoanalytic frameworks. It also doesn’t shy away from offering reasonable critiques of certain aspects within Jungian circles. It's truly an insightful read.

I started reading this book because it had a section focusing on the mythology of Eros and Psyche, and what a wonderful write-up this book provided on its analytical interpretation, particularly its connections to trauma, archetypal defenses, and self-individuation. One of the highlights of this section for me is how the story illustrates the importance of the so-called "transitional process" found in the intermediate zone between self and other—the interpersonal field—as a space in which symbolic life emerges, yet also exploring the difficulty and obstacles that one's traumatized soul must overcome to navigate this perilous terrain.

To see both the light and the shadow is to see it whole:

"Curiosity is a major part of this process-- curiosity about what is really going on underneath (shadow-side) all the one-dimensional blissful "love." Curiosity is part of consciousness and the root of consciousness is "to know with another," i.e., a "twoness" is necessary. The crystal palace of the daimon-lover is a one-dimensional space in which Psyche feels a "oneness" with her lover (projective identification) but she is not separate from him. She cannot see him and thus cannot know him. So, just like the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Psyche's sisters represent the individuation urge toward wholeness by emphasizing the shadow-side (dragon) of her blissful love"

How can one truly love without seeing oneself and the other?
I appreciate how this part is written, subtly capturing the simultaneous dimension of seeing and that of individuation: to see another is to see oneself, is to see another.

The paradox of seeing whole – it is to expand one's consciousness, but it is also a humiliation of God's consciousness:

Here we have the supreme paradoxical moment of our story, which is both a sacrifice and a birth. If it is the birth of consciousness, it is also the loss of a sustaining illusion; if it is an expansion of consciousness for Psyche who has now illuminated her lover, it is also a humiliation and narrowing of consciousness for the God. In the language of Sabina Speilrein's paper (1984), it is truly "Destruction as a Cause of Coming Into Being". The ambivalence of this moment is also embodied in the winged daimon-lover who is both devouring monster and inspiring god. Viewed from the "outside" -the perspectives of Psyche's human sisters- this figure is truly a snake or a dragon, ensnaring her in illusions which dissociate her from life in reality. But, looked upon from "inside" -the perspective of Psyche herself- the daimon-lover is also a savior-god. He pulls her out of life-in-the-world, but this life. because of her trauma, was a false one.

Again, the transformation of the human and the divine is done through human relationships:

Our tale is thus a poignant warning that the gods must not always be heeded especially when their presence as archetypal self-care figures cuts us off from living. Our story leaves this issue unresolved paradox, in fact. It says that Joy is both human and divine, not either/or, and that the way to this Joy is a passion of ecstasy (Psyche) and humiliation (Eros) in which both the human and divine are transformed through the agonies of human relationship, into love.

I've written a poem inspired by this beautiful story, as understood through the archetypal and Jungian lens laid out by this book.

[Mephistopheles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible exploration of an inner destructive 'self-care' system in early trauma victims, and an exploration of how, in early trauma, the numinous Self, in Jungian psychology expressed as the inner god or core of the personality, turns dark and destructive. It ends with four fairy tales that discuss this self-care system and the possibilities of redemption.

The only thing I wish he had expanded were what made up early trauma. It seemed to range from child sexual abuse experienced at eight to early emotional neglect in a two year old. The early emotional trauma was fuzzy for me – what constitutes such early trauma? Where is the line between early neglect – with such catastrophic results – and ordinary life limitations? Also, if this originates in the failure to mediate the ego in babyhood, why can this self-care trauma system also initiate when a child is eight or ten?

I was left with these questions after reading the book, but the overall substance of his argument was incredibly profound, and I'd like to read his second book on the subject – perhaps it supplies answers.

[Egle Gus · Rating 5 out of 5]

>5*.
VAU… Net nenumaniau, kad žmogaus vidinis pasaulis susideda iš daug daugiau nei protas, jausmai bei siela, o iš nepaprastai sudėtingų komponentų, kurie, įvykus traumai, pradeda nebe derėti tarpusavyje, dėl ko dažniausiai ir kyla įvairios neurozės žmonėms.
Taip pat, ši knyga suteikė peno apmąstymams apie “demonų” apsėstus žmones bei atliekamus egzorcizmo seansus tiems demonams išvaryti.
Pradėjau visai kitaip vertinti ir žvelgti į savo sapnus, kas man šiuo metu yra be galo įdomu.
Patarimas skaityti šią knygą net ne kiek dėl praeityje įvykusių traumų, nes kaip tik darau prielaidą, kad be profesionalo (psichoterapeuto) priežiūros ši knyga gali būti per stipri ir paveiki tam žmogui, bet tiems, kurie besidomi ir gilinasi į žmogaus psichologiją.
SUPER!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in a local public library. I will definitely re-read it in several months and I might be coming back to it throughout my life.

The book describes how people who experienced very traumatic events become psychologically impaired by what is called "self-defense mechanisms of the psyche. Fhe mechanisms create many complex fenomena, causing a person not to be fully mature psychologically.

As I undergo my own psychotherapy, I notice a lot of what the author writes about in my healing process.

If you want to understand what happens in traumatized people, this is definitely worth reading!

[Donna Herrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't even try to fathom passages of densely packed psychology jargon, but case studies of recovery from childhood trauma and exploration of fairy tales such as Rapunzel were very helpful in addressing my own fragmented personality (with the assistance of my skilled therapist). This has left me with anthropological questions, how do our western stories and myths line up with myths and stories of other cultures? Where, in our minds, do such stories and dreams come from? If other animals dream, do they have archetypal images and stories?

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important and illuminating read. As a non-jungian I would have like a bit more explanation of terms on occasion, however this didn’t detract from the ideas and mechanisms being discussed. The first portion of the book took a while to get through and digest and the addition of mythology and fairy tale in the second half helped portray some of the concepts. I will probably be going back to this at various times, and it has encouraged me to do some further reading. It doesn’t get five stars as sometimes my head exploded.

[Indre Savulione · Rating 5 out of 5]

Labai įtraukiantis pasaulis. Pirmoje dalyje su didele atida ir atjauta, kartu be jokio sentimentalumo rašoma apie klientus, gydantį tarpusavio ryšį su terapeutu. Antrame skyriuje nagrinėjami mitai ir pasakos žvelgiant per vidinės apsaugos, sukurtos patyrus traumą, orizmę. Įtaigi knyga, puikiai sudėliota.