Silvia Abu-Jamra Zornig

Trauma and deprivation: The relationship between early object relations and the constitution of a sense of self

Abstract The paper analyzes the relationship between deprivation and trauma, based on a clinical vignette of a male child, born to a psychotic mother and adopted by a foreign couple when he was seven years old. Based on the importance of maternal care and of a holding environment for the constitution of a sense of self during infancy and childhood, this paper will discuss the factors that facilitated this childs capability to form emotional ties and to constitute a psychical reality even when faced with a very precarious life situation and maternal loss.