Toward a psychoanalytic understanding of psychosomatic illness in survivors of physical and sexual trauma: A critical review of the literature

Within the realm of psychoanalysis, a certain subset of patients who present in bodily terms rather than in verbal gestures has long held a great deal of intrigue with respect to relevant contributory theoretical underpinnings and subsequent clinical implications. This dissertation explores the historical progression of the conceptualization of somatic illness as it is experienced by survivors of physical and sexual trauma and manifested in the clinical situation. It begins with Freud's fundamental theories regarding the etiology of hysteria and progresses to the post-Freudian theorists' conceptualizations and approaches to the treatment of "psychosomatic" illness. From there, it continues with an exploration of the trauma literature as it addresses the conceptual frameworks of alexithymia and the bodily self. Finally, in the discussion portion of the dissertation, an integrative perspective on psychosomatic illness and its relation to trauma is proposed and explored, taking into consideration fundamental aspects of the various theoretical models discussed throughout the paper.