Trauma and repetition : an intersubjective perspective

Abstract

This research study employed the single case-study method with the aim of illustrating how extraordinarily difficult it can be within a South African context to name racial, gender and class differences and their concomitant painful histories within the therapeutic space. The evolution of trauma is followed with particular emphasis on its relationship to gender. This case study focuses particularly on the intersubjective space generated between a White, male intern psychologist and a Coloured, female survivor of gender based violence. Material gathered over an eleven-month treatment period highlighted a resistance of both parties to acknowledge and engage with issues, such as race and gender, which threatened both client and therapist with early traumatogenetic repetitions within the therapeutic space.