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Making sense of repetition phenomena by integrating psychotraumatology and psychodynamic psychotherapy
Author(s) -
Ørner Roderick J.,
Stolz Peter
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1023/a:1020965805343
Subject(s) - repetition (rhetorical device) , psychology , psychodynamics , psychotherapist , diversity (politics) , psychodynamic psychotherapy , cognitive psychology , cognitive science , linguistics , sociology , philosophy , anthropology
Psychotherapy and psychotraumatology share a preoccupation with repetition phenomena, manifested as transference, compulsions to repeat, or intrusive reexperiencing. Terminological diversity obscures compelling similarities between these repetition phenomena and discourages speculation about processes involved in their genesis. This paper remedies these oversights by integrating recent empirical evidence pertaining to memory with European intellectual traditions embraced by its pioneering dynamic psychotherapists. Using dreams as a prototype repetition, the phenomenological diversity of repetition phenomena is shown to be reconcilable with current evidence about memory encoding, storage, and retrieval. Differences in persistence, intensity, pervasiveness, and treatment resilience of repetition phenomena are explained using concepts derived from psychological and biological sciences. Implications for psychotherapeutic theory, practice, and evaluation are considered.