Infantile Trauma,Therapeutic Impasses and Recovery

Throughout his writings Ferenczi examines the role of the mother–infant relationship in healthy development as well as the difficulties that occur when that relationship is problematic. This paper using Ferenczi and Bion as theoretical background explores the clinical development of impasse in the treatment of hard to reach patients. These patients present special difficulty for analysis because they are not self reflective although they can be addicted to “processing,” which is in lieu of emotional connection. Impasse occurs when the analyst does not detect the mimicry involved in processing. The paper offers the idea of recovery, rather than repair, in that such patients have “gone missing” in infancy. Recovery of lost potential can be found in relationship with the analyst and with significant others.