Clinical identification of a specific psychic envelope in families with anorexic symptoms.

Fiche publication


Date publication

janvier 2024

Journal

Family process

Auteurs

Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Pr SANAHUJA Almudena


Tous les auteurs :
Naimi M, Sanahuja A

Résumé

Our clinical experience in psychoanalytic family therapy with families where one member has anorexic symptoms has shown that the therapy space is often invaded by the deathly dimension, by an absence of family historicity, and by a lack of autonomy. These different elements appear as "voids," missing pieces of a family puzzle, and reflect a psychic container damaged by the weight of inherited intergenerational trauma. Rather than disappear, these elements are passed down from one generation to the next, their effects weakening the current group whose psychic envelope develops "holes" and becomes "elastic." This paper will focus on the changes in this psychic container, which shift according to the rhythm of family functioning, oscillating between activation of the deathly toxic function within the group, on the one hand, and tension between the isomorphic and homomorphic mode, on the other. We will show how this clinical identification around the quality of the psychic envelope and its changes is valuable for family therapy.

Mots clés

anorexia, family genealogy, family therapy, psychic envelopes, symptom-bearer, trauma

Référence

Fam Process. 2024 01 24;: