IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/elg/eechap/23522_1.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Melancholy, trauma and therapy

In: Memory, Trauma and Narratives of the Self

Author

Listed:
  • Cláudio Alexandre S. Carvalho

Abstract

This chapter explores the interrelationship between the conditions of melancholy and trauma through their inscription in the therapeutic medium. First, I discuss the depuration of the concept of melancholy as it appears in psychoanalysis. Then I outline the links between melancholy and trauma, observing them as interrelated processes of splitting the self. The concepts of incorporation and crypt are deemed central to explain the vulnerability of this distinct form of captive memory. Next, I address the historic understanding of trauma, attending to the implications of the unfulfilled duties of memory, particularly in transgenerational trauma. Finally, I consider the procedures of therapeutic communication, focusing on the conditions for the “activation of the problem”, the “mechanism” of validation and the routes of narrative elaboration, accounting for how these open up opportunities for affective integration and change.

Suggested Citation

  • Cláudio Alexandre S. Carvalho, 2024. "Melancholy, trauma and therapy," Chapters, in: Edmundo Balsemão Pires & Cláudio A.S. Carvalho & Joana Ricarte (ed.), Memory, Trauma and Narratives of the Self, chapter 1, pages 24-47, Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:23522_1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035337972.00007
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:23522_1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Darrel McCalla (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.e-elgar.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.