The unsolved puzzle of trauma

This paper covers the inherent difference between psychoanalysis, which dea ls with unconscious fantasies, and trauma, which emphasizes the psychic rep ercussions caused by events in external reality. This distinction has led t o variations in the treatment for victims of trauma, which also reflects th e duality commonly observed in this group of patients, I suggest that traum a leads to unconscious guilt and the need for exoneration because individua ls identify with their fate, and that this guilt can and indeed should be a nalyzed. Further studies might show that dividedness predates the experienc e of trauma and that this mode of defense mitigates the impact of trauma.