title: Symbols and self preservation in severe disturbance.
abstract: The author considers a particular way in which symbolic functioning and the sense of self fail in certain cases of severe disturbance. When containment of the infant fails, the experience is a violent one. If the infant is projected into by an 'invasive object', the infant can incorporate this experience both as a bodily and a proto-mental registration. The experience then remains within the psyche-soma and subsequent development is built 'around' the consequences of the trauma. Clinical illustrations are provided to demonstrate this phenomenon in the analytic setting.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D013561:Symbolism