Marion Feldman

Transmission: From Experience to Awareness Jewish Children Hidden in France and Their Children

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to attempt to understand how the experience of having been a Jewish child hidden in France during the Occupation was transmitted to offspring. This analysis is based on research carried out among former hidden Jewish children, and the therapeutic follow-up provided in the setting of our clinical activities. The psychopathology of the first generation plays a role in the transmission process. The transmission of their history is also a source of ambivalence. This study shows how important it is to consider the complexity of personal histories and the distortions attendant on the transmission of these histories.

Operational and ethical challenges of applied psychosocial research in humanitarian emergency settings: a case study

Interventions on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing have been largely implemented in low and middle income countries. In order to adapt the support offered, an increasing number of applied research projects in mental health and psychosocial support have been conducted. However, while challenges arising can be related to the specificity of the mental health and psychosocial sector, within a broader perspective they are also strongly linked to difficulties of access to beneficiaries, security and protections issues, and competence of staff. Research priorities and guidelines have the objective of providing recommendations to ensure a framework of best practice for research during emergencies. Therefore, this article presents and discusses operational and ethical challenges of research conducted during an emergency, as implemented by the international nongovernmental organisation Action Contre la Faim.

The Transmission of Trauma from Mother to Infant: Radioactive Residues and Counter-Transference in the Case of a Haitian Mother and Her Two-Year-Old Son*

ABSTRACT Close observation of the interactions between a traumatised mother and her infant son provides information on the modes of transmission of psychic trauma in the mother–infant dyad. Following the presentation of a current literature review on the theme, the subject of “radioactive residue” and counter-transference in the transmission of psychic trauma from mother to infant will be illustrated through a clinical case study that focuses on a Haitian mother and her two-year-old infant son who has been referred to a “transitional care nursery” in urban Paris. The encounter with this mother–infant dyad is analysed through observing the quality of the interactions that take place between the mother and infant in order to determine how a particularly traumatic narrative impacts the mother–infant relationship, in addition to relations with the clinician. Mother and infant respond to one another through the emission and reception of “radioactive residues” as hypothesized by Gampel. This clinical case study shows that there is a need to consider transcultural factors and collective experience and history when analysing traumatic events. Additionally, the case study shows that counter-transference can be an effective clinical tool for gaining access to an infants experience as the recipient of a traumatic narrative.

The Jewish Children Hidden in France During the Second World War: A Retrospective Study

This retrospective study focused on the consequences of childhood traumas and mourning among Jewish children who were hidden in France during World War II. Some of these hidden children went on to create a self-help group over a half-century after the end of the war, but most have remained isolated and, in the majority of cases, have difficulties assimilating their traumatic experiences.