title: The dissociative bond.
abstract: Dissociation leaves a psychic void and a lingering sense of psychic absence. How do 2 people bond while they are both suffering from dissociation? The author explores the notion of a dissociative bond that occurs in the aftermath of trauma--a bond that holds at its core an understanding and shared detachment from the self. Such a bond is confined to unspoken terms that are established in the relational unconscious. The author proposes understanding the dissociative bond as a transitional space that may not lead to full integration of dissociated knowledge yet offers some healing. This is exemplified by R. Prince's (2009) clinical case study. A relational perspective is adopted, focusing on the intersubjective aspects of a dyadic relationship. In the dissociative bond, recognition of the need to experience mutual dissociation can accommodate a psychic state that yearns for relationship when the psyche cannot fully confront past wounds. Such a bond speaks to the need to reestablish a sense of human relatedness and connection when both parties in the relationship suffer from disconnection. This bond is bound to a silence that becomes both a means of protection against the horror of traumatic memory and a way to convey unspoken gestures toward the other.
authors.affiliation: Trauma and Violence Transdisciplinary Studies, New York University, New York, NY, USA. niritgo@gmail.com
authors.forename: Nirit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gordon
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D017767:Holocaust / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*