ABSTRACT

Torture and exile shatter a person’s sense of self, their trust in others, and produce isolation and an array of post-traumatic sequelae. This article explores the experiences of therapists working with torture survivors at a London-based charity. It explores what, for them, constitutes the process of bearing witness to narratives of trauma in therapeutic encounters. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed, using semi-structured interviews. Analysis was underpinned by intersubjectivity and psychoanalytic social theory. The findings illuminate the significance of engaging in affective relationships of political solidarity and validation against the backdrop of the structural disavowal of the ‘hostile environment’ in the UK context. Witnessing was described as the interplay of ‘staying with’ people’s trauma without attempting to ‘fix’ or pathologize. Participants described witnessing multi-dimensional aspects of a person. The article concludes by discussing the implications of witnessing for therapists working with survivors of torture.

摘要

酷刑和流放会破坏一个人的自我意识、对他人的信任，并产生孤立感和一系列创伤后后遗症。本文探讨了治疗师在伦敦一家慈善机构与酷刑幸存者一起工作的经历。它探讨了对他们来说，是什么构成了在治疗遭遇中见证创伤叙述的过程。使用半结构化访谈，采用解释性现象学分析（IPA）。分析以主体间性和精神分析社会理论为基础。研究结果阐明了在英国背景下对“敌对环境”的结构性否认的背景下，参与政治团结和验证的情感关系的重要性。目击被描述为“留在”人们的创伤而不试图“修复”或病态化的相互作用。参与者描述了目睹一个人的多维方面。文章最后讨论了见证对与酷刑幸存者一起工作的治疗师的影响。