THE TRAUMA AS AN OBJECT RELATIONSHIP - AL TERATIONS OF THE INNER OBJECT WORLD BY SEVERE TRAUMATIZATION IN ADULTHOOD

The author traces the structure, psychodynamics, and metapsychology of the traumatic reaction and illustrates this by facets of his study ab out psychic long-term damages caused by rape. He places the traumatic introjection in the centre, which anchors certain aspects of the traum atic event as an ''inner alien element'' in the ego of the victim. Thi s introjection, which cannot be assimilated, can alter the inner objec t world of the victim so basically, that even fundamental psychic stru ctures may be impaired or even destroyed subsequently. The consequence s of the theoretical considerations for the therapeutic treatment of t rauma victims are outlined and illustrated by a vignette of an analyti c hour.