Torture Survivors in Analytic Therapy (Focus on Jung, Politics and Culture)

99 Pages·2022·1.049 MB·English

by  Monica Luci

ʻThis is a remarkable book; not only does Dr. Luci give us an account of her sensitive,
painstaking, caring, and courageous work with three people who suffered complex
trauma related to appalling torture (one account focuses on the body, one on the
dynamics of the master–slave relationship, and the third on gender-based violence
and torture), but her work also takes us beyond these particular individuals and
opens up the deepest questions concerning the construction of the self. Bringing
together her thinking over a number of years, she presents us with her creative
development of Jungian and relational psychoanalytic theorizing, describing the
shift between paradoxical multiple self states and monolithic self states, as well
as the role of psychic skin, operating on somatic, psychic, and social levels in the
construction of the self. She also offers an invaluable chapter on clinical practice
with torture survivors, which will help practitioners engage with the dissociated
parts of their patients that profoundly affect the therapist. This is a heartfelt book
by which I was moved and challenged to think further and more deeply. I cannot
recommend it highly enough.’
– Marcus West, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal
of Analytical Psychology
ʻIn this remarkable and all too rare clinical book on torture survivors, Luci introduces
the reader to groundbreaking psychoanalytic therapy with three survivors. Her
descriptions and commentary about the treatments are in graphic and chilling
detail, writing about torture, the body, slavery, and gender-based violence. Her
theoretical underpinnings of the treatments are compelling, contemporary, and
holistic. Using an integration of relational and Jungian principles, she brilliantly
captures the dynamics of complex trauma and writes with measured authority and
moving humanity. Luci’s study is a significant contribution to the field of trauma
studies and extends our psychoanalytic insights.’
– Spyros D. Orfanos, PhD, ABPP, Director,
New York University Postdoctoral Program
in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis
ʻMonica Luci makes an essential contribution to the clinical literature on working
with survivors of gross human rights abuses. Through three compelling case
histories, she demonstrates not only a keen understanding of the tortured subject
but the difficulty of deeply engaging such profoundly damaged human beings in
treatment when experiences for which there are no words inscribe themselves on
the body. Clinically rich and instructive data are lucid explications of Jungian and
relational psychodynamics.’
– Ghislaine Boulanger, PhD, New York University
Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy
and Psychoanalysis

Torture Survivors in Analytic
Therapy
This important new book introduces and discusses the underpinning of
psychodynamic psychotherapy for torture survivors in a clinical setting and
incorporates concepts from analytical psychology and other theoretical bases in
order to provide readers with a deeper understanding of this complex trauma.
Using the concepts of analytical psychology, relational psychoanalysis,
and neuroscience, and relying on the theoretical basis of her book Torture,
Psychoanalysis & Human Rights (Routledge, 2017), Luci focuses on three
key clinical cases and illustrates the therapeutic paths that the therapeutic dyad
explores and experiences in order to get out of the patient’s inner prison created
or aggravated by the experience of torture. The book discusses the role of the
therapist when working with torture survivors, the requirement of a slow and
cautious approach when dealing with such trauma, and the importance of a careful
and respectful consideration of issues of identity, politics, and culture.
Featuring a useful guide, this book will be of great interest to mental health
professionals, psychotherapists, and students practicing in services that provide
assistance to torture and war trauma survivors.
Monica Luci, PhD, clinical psychologist and Jungian and relational psychoanalyst,
works in private practice in Rome and collaborates with NGOs, universities, and
institutions in the field of research, psychosocial interventions, and psychotherapy
for vulnerable migrants, especially survivors of torture, trafficked women,
unaccompanied minors and other victims of human rights violations. She is
the author of publications on the themes of trauma, displacement, violence,
dissociation, sexuality, gender, and human rights.
Routledge Focus on Jung, Politics and Culture
The Jung, Politics and Culture series showcases the ‘political turn’ in Jungian
and Post-Jungian psychology. Established and emerging authors offer unique
perspectives and new insights as they explore the connections between Jungian
psychology and key topics – including national and international politics, gender,
race and human rights.
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/Focus-on-
Jung-Politics-and-Culture/book-series/FJPC
Titles in the series:
From Vision to Folly in the American Soul
Jung, Politics and Culture
Thomas Singer
Vision, Reality and Complex
Jung, Politics and Culture
Thomas Singer
Anti-Semitism and Analytical Psychology
Jung, Politics and Culture
Daniel Burston
Torture Survivors in Analytic Therapy
Jung, Politics, Culture
Monica Luci
Torture Survivors in Analytic
Therapy
Jung, Politics, Culture
Monica Luci
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2022 Monica Luci
The right of Monica Luci to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-42668-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-42670-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-85429-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780367854294
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To my father
infallible compass of my life,
woven expansion of humanity,
loving exception.
You will live as long as I live.

Contents
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
1 The Role of the Body in the Therapy of Torture Survivors 14
2 Mixed Violations: Slavery and Torture 33
3 Gender-Based Violence and Torture: The Personal Is Political 51
4 Principles for the Psychotherapy of Torture Survivors 65
Conclusions 80
Index 82