Kirjahaku

This book takes a deeper look into the darker side of the human condition by examining the psyches of those who have been victims or survivors of heinous acts perpetrated by others. From the "personal Holocaust" of sexual abuse in the family, to the genocidal persecution during "the" Holocaust, and from the shared national horror of September 11 to the Palestinian/Israeli situation, a special model of the traumatized mind is evolved to further our understanding of such "dark matters". The traditional models of the mind fall short when dealing with extraordinary people under ordinary conditions as well as with ordinary people under extraordinary conditions. This metapsychology is organized around the defensive operations of repression or splitting. In the model proposed here, defensive altered states of consciousness, or dissociation seems more helpful. A historical perspective is offered, from Freud and Breuer, with their Studies on Hysteria, to current thinking about dissociative disorders. A developmental line of dissociation is also explored.

This book offers a clinical study of psychic trauma and provides a framework through which to understand the long term effects of overwhelming life experiences. Ira Brenner draws on two different populations, those affected by early physical and sexual abuse, as well as those affected by genocidal persecution during the Holocaust.

Injured Men is a unique casebook of clinical material pertaining to men who have sustained trauma. With the exception of those publications dealing with the military, clinical vignettes of traumatized individuals are overwhelmingly female. By comparison, little has been written about the plight of men. Injured Men begins to fill that void. Richly illustrated with both brief and extensively detailed analytic case reports, Injured Men describes the manifestations of such phenomena as physical and sexual abuse, unresolved grief, genocidal persecution, intergenerational transmission of trauma, and of course, combat. With his perspective on dissociation and dissociative disorders, Brenner also presents a traumatic pathway to the development of a masculine self in those with female bodies. In dealing with the long term effects of trauma, he advocates a pluralistic approach, which he demonstrates in the final chapter of this fascinating volume.

Injured Men is a unique casebook of clinical material pertaining to men who have sustained trauma. With the exception of those publications dealing with the military, clinical vignettes of traumatized individuals are overwhelmingly female. By comparison, little has been written about the plight of men. Injured Men begins to fill that void. Richly illustrated with both brief and extensively detailed analytic case reports, Injured Men describes the manifestations of such phenomena as physical and sexual abuse, unresolved grief, genocidal persecution, intergenerational transmission of trauma, and of course, combat. With his perspective on dissociation and dissociative disorders, Brenner also presents a traumatic pathway to the development of a masculine self in those with female bodies. In dealing with the long term effects of trauma, he advocates a pluralistic approach, which he demonstrates in the final chapter of this fascinating volume.