Traumatic Ruptures: Abandonment and Betrayal in the Analytic Relationship

239 Pages·2014·1.64 MB·English

by  Robin A. Deutsch

TRAUMATIC RUPTURES
For much of its history, psychoanalysis has been strangely silent about sudden
ruptures in the analytic relationship and their immediate and far-reaching effects for
those involved. Such issues of betrayal and abandonment—the death of an analyst, a
patient’s suicide, an ethical violation—disrupt the stability and cohesion of the analytic
framework and leave indelible marks on both individuals and institutions alike.
In Traumatic Ruptures, an international range of contributors present fi rst-
person, highly personal and sometimes painful accounts of their experiences and the
occasionally diffi cult yet redeeming lessons they have taken from them. Presented in
four parts, the book explores multiple meanings and consequences of the break in the
analytic relationship. Part I, Ruptured Subjectivity: Lost and Found, presents accounts
of clinical encounters with death. Part II, Rupture: The Clinical Process, addresses the
sudden loss of an analyst, the trauma of patient suicide, and the issue of countertransfer-
ence when working with patients who have suffered the unexpected loss of their fi rst
analyst. Part III, The Long Shadow of Rupture, examines the effects of ethical viola-
tions in the short and long term. Finally, Part IV, Ruptures’ Impact on Organizations,
looks at the wider impact of ethical and sexual boundary violations in the context of an
organization and the effect of trauma on a psychoanalytic institute. By giving voice to
issues that are usually silenced, the authors here open the door to understanding the
complex nature of traumatic rupture within the analytic fi eld.
This intimate exploration of psychoanalytic treatments and communities is ideal for
psychoanalysts, psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatrists, and family
therapists. It is an important text for clinicians working with individuals who have
experienced traumatic ruptures and for members of organizations dealing with their
effects.
Robin A. Deutsch is Member and Faculty of the San Francisco Center for
Psychoanalysis, where she currently serves as President of the Center. She maintains a
private practice of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and consultation in Oakland,
California, and is particularly interested in the development of analytic identity,
therapist subjectivity, and the effects of the sudden loss of an analyst.
Relational Perspectives Book Series
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris
Series Co-Editors
Steven Kuchuck & Eyal Rozmarin
Associate Editors
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The Relational Perspectives Book Series (RPBS) publishes books that grow
out of or contribute to the relational tradition in contemporary psycho-
analysis. The term relational psychoanalysis was fi rst used by Greenberg and
Mitchell (1983) to bridge the traditions of interpersonal relations, as developed
within interpersonal psychoanalysis and object relations, as developed within
contemporary British theory. But, under the seminal work of the late Stephen
Mitchell, the term relational psychoanalysis grew and began to accrue to itself
many other infl uences and developments. Various tributaries—interpersonal
psychoanalysis, object relations theory, self-psychology, empirical infancy
research, and elements of contemporary Freudian and Kleinian thought—fl ow
into this tradition, which understands relational confi gurations between self
and others, both real and fantasied, as the primary subject of psychoanalytic
investigation.
We refer to the relational tradition, rather than to a relational school, to high-
light that we are identifying a trend, a tendency within contemporary psycho-
analysis, not a more formally organized or coherent school or system of beliefs.
Our use of the term relational signifi es a dimension of theory and practice that
has become salient across the wide spectrum of contemporary psychoanalysis.
Now under the editorial supervision of Lewis Aron and Adrienne Harris, with
the assistance of Associate Editors Steven Kuchuck and Eyal Rozmarin, the
Relational Perspectives Book Series originated in 1990 under the editorial eye
of the late Stephen A. Mitchell. Mitchell was the most prolifi c and infl uential
of the originators of the relational tradition. He was committed to dialogue
among psychoanalysts and he abhorred the authoritarianism that dictated
adherence to a rigid set of beliefs or technical restrictions. He championed
open discussion, comparative and integrative approaches, and he promoted
new voices across the generations.

Included in the Relational Perspectives Book Series are authors and works
that come from within the relational tradition, extend and develop the tradition,
as well as works that critique relational approaches or compare and contrast it
with alternative points of view. The series includes our most distinguished
senior psychoanalysts, along with younger contributors who bring fresh vision.
Vol. 1 Vol. 12
CONVERSING WITH UNCERTAINTY RELATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Practicing Psychotherapy in a Hospital Setting ON THE BODY
Rita Wiley McCleary Lewis Aron & Frances Sommer Anderson (eds.)
Vol. 2 Vol. 13
AFFECT IN PSYCHOANALYSIS SEDUCTION, SURRENDER,
A Clinical Synthesis AND TRANSFORMATION
Charles Spezzano Emotional Engagement in the Analytic Process
Karen Maroda
Vol. 3
THE ANALYST IN THE INNER CITY Vol. 14
Race, Class, and Culture RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS
through a Psychoanalytic Lens The Emergence of a Tradition
Neil Altman Stephen A. Mitchell & Lewis Aron (eds.)
Vol. 4 Vol. 15
A MEETING OF MINDS THE COLLAPSE OF THE SELF AND
Mutuality in Psychoanalysis ITS THERAPEUTIC RESTORATION
Lewis Aron Rochelle G. K. Kainer
Vol. 5 Vol. 16
HOLDING AND PSYCHOANALYSIS PSYCHOANALYTIC PARTICIPATION
A Relational Perspective Action, Interaction, and Integration
Joyce A. Slochower Kenneth A. Frank
Vol. 6
Vol. 17
THE THERAPIST AS A PERSON
THE REPRODUCTION OF EVIL
Life Crises, Life Choices, Life Experiences,
A Clinical and Cultural Perspective
and Their Effects on Treatment
Sue Grand
Barbara Gerson (ed.)
Vol. 18
Vol. 7 OBJECTS OF HOPE
SOUL ON THE COUCH Exploring Possibility and Limit in
Spirituality, Religion, and Morality Psychoanalysis
in Contemporary Psychoanalysis Steven H. Cooper
Charles Spezzano & Gerald J. Gargiulo (eds.)
Vol. 19
Vol. 8 WHO IS THE DREAMER, WHO
UNFORMULATED EXPERIENCE DREAMS THE DREAM?
From Dissociation to Imagination A Study of Psychic Presences
in Psychoanalysis James S. Grotstein
Donnel B. Stern
Vol. 20
Vol. 9 RELATIONALITY
INFLUENCE AND AUTONOMY IN From Attachment to Intersubjectivity
PSYCHOANALYSIS Stephen A. Mitchell
Stephen A. Mitchell
Vol. 21
Vol. 10 LOOKING FOR GROUND
FAIRBAIRN, THEN AND NOW Countertransference and the
Neil J. Skolnick & David E. Scharff (eds.) Problem of Value in Psychoanalysis
Peter G. M. Carnochan
Vol. 11
BUILDING BRIDGES Vol. 22
Negotiation of Paradox in Psychoanalysis SEXUALITY, INTIMACY, POWER
Stuart A. Pizer Muriel Dimen
Vol. 23 Vol. 35
SEPTEMBER 11 COMPARATIVE-INTEGRATIVE
Trauma and Human Bonds PSYCHOANALYSIS
Susan W. Coates, Jane L. Rosenthal, A Relational Perspective for the
& Daniel S. Schechter (eds.) Discipline’s Second Century
Brent Willock
Vol. 24
MINDING SPIRITUALITY Vol. 36
Randall Lehman Sorenson BODIES IN TREATMENT
Vol. 25 The Unspoken Dimension
GENDER AS SOFT ASSEMBLY Frances Sommer Anderson (ed.)
Adrienne Harris
Vol. 37
Vol. 26 ADOLESCENT IDENTITIES
IMPOSSIBLE TRAINING A Collection of Readings
A Relational View of Psychoanalytic Education Deborah Browning (ed.)
Emanuel Berman
Vol. 38
Vol. 27 REPAIR OF THE SOUL
THE DESIGNED SELF Metaphors of Transformation
Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Identities in Jewish Mysticism and Psychoanalysis
Carlo Strenger Karen E. Starr
Vol. 28 Vol. 39
RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS, VOL. II DARE TO BE HUMAN
Innovation and Expansion A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Journey
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.) Michael Shoshani Rosenbaum
Vol. 29
Vol. 40
CHILD THERAPY IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS
THE ANALYST IN THE INNER
A Relational View
CITY, SECOND EDITION
Sebastiano Santostefano
Race, Class, and Culture
Vol. 30 through a Psychoanalytic Lens
THE HEALER’S BENT Neil Altman
Solitude and Dialogue in the ClinicalEncounter
James T. McLaughlin Vol. 41
THE HERO IN THE MIRROR
Vol. 31 From Fear to Fortitude
UNCONSCIOUS FANTASIES AND Sue Grand
THE RELATIONAL WORLD
Danielle Knafo & Kenneth Feiner Vol. 42
SABERT BASESCU
Vol. 32
Selected Papers on Human
GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE
Nature and Psychoanalysis
Analytic Love, Analytic Process
George Goldstein & Helen Golden (eds.)
Sheldon Bach
Vol. 33 Vol. 43
CREATING BODIES INVASIVE OBJECTS
Eating Disorders as Self-Destructive Survival Minds under Siege
Katie Gentile Paul Williams
Vol. 34 Vol. 44
RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS, VOL. III GOOD ENOUGH ENDINGS
New Voices Breaks, Interruptions, and Terminations from
Melanie Suchet, Adrienne Harris, Contemporary Relational Perspectives
& Lewis Aron (eds.) Jill Salberg (ed.)
Vol. 45 Vol. 55
FIRST DO NO HARM A PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR THE PEOPLE
The Paradoxical Encounters Toward a Progressive Psychoanalysis
of Psychoanalysis, Warmaking, and Resistance Lewis Aron & Karen Starr
Adrienne Harris & Steven Botticelli (eds.)
Vol. 56
Vol. 46 HOLDING AND PSYCHOANALYSIS
A DISTURBANCE IN THE FIELD A Relational Perspective
Essays in Transference-Countertransference Joyce Slochower
Engagement
Steven H. Cooper Vol. 57
THE PLAY WITHIN THE PLAY
Vol. 47 The Enacted Dimension of
UPROOTED MINDS Psychoanalytic Process
Surviving the Politics of Terror in the Americas Gil Katz
Nancy Caro Hollander
Vol. 58
Vol. 48 TRAUMATIC NARCISSISM
TOWARD MUTUAL RECOGNITION Relational Systems of Subjugation
Relational Psychoanalysis and the Christian Daniel Shaw
Narrative
Marie T. Hoffman Vol. 59
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE
Vol. 49
PSYCHOANALYST’S LIFE EXPERIENCE
UNDERSTANDING AND TREATING
When the Personal Becomes Professional
DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER
Steven Kuchuck (ed.)
A Relational Approach
Elizabeth F. Howell Vol. 60
THE ORIGINS OF ATTACHMENT
Vol. 50
Infant Research and Adult Treatment
WITH CULTURE IN MIND
Beatrice Beebe & Frank M. Lachmann
Psychoanalytic Stories
Muriel Dimen (ed.) Vol. 61
THE EMBODIED ANALYST
Vol. 51
From Freud and Reich to Relationality
RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS, VOL. IV
Jon Sletvold
Expansion of Theory
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.) Vol. 62
Vol. 52 A RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYTIC
RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS, VOL. V APPROACH TO COUPLES
Evolution of Process PSYCHOTHERAPY
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.) Philip A. Ringstrom
Vol. 53 Vol. 63
INDIVIDUALIZING GENDER CYCLICAL PSYCHODYNAMICS AND
AND SEXUALITY THE CONTEXTUAL SELF
Theory and Practice The Inner World, the Intimate World, and the
Nancy Chodorow World of Culture and Society
Paul L. Wachtel
Vol. 54
THE SILENT PAST AND THE Vol. 64
INVISIBLE PRESENT TRAUMATIC RUPTURES
Memory, Trauma, and Abandonment and Betrayal
Representation in Psychotherapy in the Analytic Relationship
Paul Renn Robin A. Deutsch (ed.)
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TRAUMATIC RUPTURES
Abandonment and Betrayal in the
Analytic Relationship
Edited by Robin A. Deutsch
Routledge RTayolour &t Flreandcisg Geroup
NEW YORK AND LONDON
First published 2014
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2014 Robin A. Deutsch
The right of the editor to be identifi ed as the author of the editorial material, and
of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known
or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Traumatic ruptures: abandonment and betrayal in the analytic relationship/
edited by Robin A. Deutsch.
pages cm.—(Relational perspectives book series)
1. Psychotherapist and patient. 2. Diseases—Relapse. 3. Transference
(Psychology) 4. Psychoanalysis. I. Deutsch, Robin A., editor of
compilation.
RC480.8.T75 2014
616.89’17—dc23 2013044455
ISBN: 978-0-415-53929-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-53931-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-77975-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Refi neCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
CONTENTS
List of Contributors xii
Foreword: Traumatic Ruptures: Abandonment
and Betrayal in the Analytic Relationship xv
MURIEL DIMEN
Acknowledgments xvii
1 Introduction 1
ROBIN A. DEUTSCH
PART I
Ruptured Subjectivity: Lost and Found 11
2 Psychoanalytic Process in the Shadow of Rupture:
Clinical Encounters with Death, Dead Mothers,
and Deadly Mothers 13
ADRIENNE HARRIS
3 A Voice Lost, a Voice Found: After the Death
of the Analyst 32
ROBIN A. DEUTSCH
PART II
Rupture: The Clinical Process 47
4 Abandoned Without Warning: Resonance of the
Shame of Early Loss When an Analyst Dies 49
JENNY RANDLES AND FRANCES THOMSON-SALO
ix