COPING WITH THE HORROR OF COMBAT EXPERIENCE THROUGH ARCHETYPAL IDENTIFICATIONS WITH FIGURES OF POPULAR FICTION IN COMBATANTS: A CASE STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2311-8458/2023-2-11Keywords:
analytic psychology, trauma, dreams, fiction, symbol, combatant, rehabilitationAbstract
The importance of symbolic means of enduring traumatic circumstance is paramount to trauma treatment in the approach of analytical psychology. The case of patient J. illustrates the work of this principle in the immediate situation of trauma, and in building a connection with his therapist in rehab. The content analysis of his stories and dreams suggests increased ease of connecting with his emotions, when using the symbols and characters of a fictional universe to describe them, and an ability to perceive and integrate all sides of his traumatic experience without suffering dissociation. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the impact of cultural imagery, relevant to the patient, for integration of their traumatic experience. The methods used for conducting the study are unstructured interviewing and content analysis. In this particular case a pattern has been noticed: use of the archetypal identifications with fictional characters and concepts has helped the patient express and integrate more experiences and affects, thus creating a relationship of the Ego to these experiences. In stories and dreams, that contained the imagery, the patient has used more verbal markers for emotional states generally, and they appear predominantly positive. In stories devoid of the fictional imagery there were less emotional markers with an equal distribution of positive and negative ones. Furthermore, the ability of the therapist in this case study to relate to the particular popular medium the patient has used for his descriptions, helped in creating a more robust therapeutic alliance, since an unfamiliarity of hospital staff with the material made it difficult for them to understand many of patients’ jokes and references, as reported by the patient. While not being a critical element of the alliance, this shared symbolic field proved to help establish a specific and helpful point of contact with the patients’ experience.
References
Smits, D.J., De Boeck, P., Kuppens, P., & Van Mechelen, I. (2002). The structure of negative emotion scales: Generalization over contexts and comprehensiveness. European Journal of Personality, 16(2), 127–141.
Szejko, N. (2021). Poetic representations of post-traumatic stress disorder in cinema-example of Ivan’s childhood by Andriei Tarkovsky. European Psychiatry, 64(S1), S447–S447.
Brooke, R. (2017). An archetypal approach to treating combat post-traumatic stress disorder. Outpatient Treatment of Psychosis. Psychodynamic Approaches to Evidence-Based Practice (1 ed), (pp. 170–195). London and New York: Routledge / Taylor & Francis Group [in English]. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429478123-7
Petric, D. (2023). Psychological Archetypes. Open Journal of Medical Psychology, 12(1), 1–16.
Welman, M. (1995). Death and gnosis: Archetypal dream imagery in terminal illness (Doctoral dissertation, Rhodes University).
Kalsched, D. (2013). Trauma and the soul: A psycho-spiritual approach to human development and its interruption. London and New York: Routledge / Taylor & Francis Group [in English].
Paredes, P., Gilad-Bachrach, R., Czerwinski, M., Roseway, A., Rowan, K., & Hernandez, J. (2014, May). PopTherapy: Coping with stress through pop-culture. In Proceedings of the 8th international conference on pervasive computing technologies for healthcare (pp. 109–117).
Nelson-Reid, Y.D. (2020). Trauma, Trigger, Transformation: An Archetypal Approach to Adolescent Suicide Attempts (Doctoral dissertation, Pacifica Graduate Institute).
Olson, M.D. (2020). The influence of social exclusion on posttraumatic stress reactions in older adult veterans. Social Work, 65(2), 123–130.
Jumarali, S.N., Nnawulezi, N., Royson, S., Lippy, C., Rivera, A.N., & Toopet, T. (2021). Participatory research engagement of vulnerable populations: employing survivor-centered, trauma-informed approaches. Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 2(2).
Moxnes, P. (2013). The Hero's dream and other primordial patterns of imagery: Archetypal influences on organisational fantasies and ideations. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 26(4), 638–653.
Bala, M. (2010). The clown: An archetypal self-journey. Jung journal, 4(1), 50–71.
Bean, A. (2022). Therapeutic Use of Video Games in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Case Study of an Immersed 10-Year-Old Boy. Journal of Psychology, 9, 159.
(APA) American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing Association [in English]. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890423349
Clearman, T. (2022). Wellbeing and Connectivity to Nature: Exploring Archetypal Emergence Using Digital Generative Art (Doctoral dissertation, Pacifica Graduate Institute).
Colman, W. (2011). Synchronicity and the meaning‐making psyche. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 56(4), 471–491.
De Haan, K.L.B., Lee, C.W., Fassbinder, E., Van Es, S.M., Menninga, S., Meewisse, M.L., ... & Arntz, A. (2020). Imagery rescripting and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing as treatment for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder from childhood trauma: randomised clinical trial. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 217(5), 609–615.
Monk, J.K., Proulx, C., Marini, C., & Fiori, K. (2020). Advancing research and theory on aging military veterans in a relational context. Journal of family theory & review, 12(2), 180–199.
Nelson, E. (2013). Writing as method: Depth psychological research and archetypal voice. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 7(3), 330–342.
Shiota, M.N., Keltner, D., & John, O.P. (2006). Positive emotion dispositions differentially associated with Big Five personality and attachment style. The journal of positive psychology, 1(2), 61–71.
Singh, L., Espinosa, L., Ji, J.L., Moulds, M.L., & Holmes, E.A. (2020). Developing thinking around mental health science: the example of intrusive, emotional mental imagery after psychological trauma. Cognitive neuropsychiatry, 25(5), 348–363.
Yücel, D.E., van Emmerik, A.A., Souama, C., & Lancee, J. (2020). Comparative efficacy of imagery rehearsal therapy and prazosin in the treatment of trauma-related nightmares in adults: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 50, 101248.
