After Wars: Psychoanalytic Observations On Societal Traumas

Decades ago most psychoanalysts were not interested in examining external dangers. For example, Melanie Klein’s report on the analysis of 10-year-old Richard during the World War 2 blitz in London does not at all refer to the external danger that both Richard and his analyst were facing at the time (Klein, 1961). To day many psychoanalysts are involved in trauma studies. After September 11, 2001 some psychoanalysts began in depth investigations of the victims ’ psychological issues. For example, Ani Bergman, Phyllis Cohen and their coworkers are studying the attachment problems between mothers who were pregnant when their husbands perished on September 11 and their newborn babies (Bergman and Cohen, 2004). I began to observe traumatized people and societies in 1976. During this seminar I will make references t