Object Relations in Severe Trauma

Stephen Prior holds doctorates in both philosophy and psychology. After receiving his degree in psychology, he worked extensively with seriously disturbed children. Currently he is in private practice with adults and children in the greater Boston area.

Object Relations in Severe Trauma provides the unusual amalgamation of solid scholarship, sound theoretical development, and detailed case examples of treatment of the seriously disturbed and traumatized child. Drawing from both his psychotherapeutic treatment of seriously disturbed boys who suffered multiple forms of neglect and abuse and from the work of Fairbain, Berliner, and Ekstein, Prior delineates an object relational theory of the consequences of the sexual traumatization of children that has implications for therapy. Students and practitioners will benefit from the illustrations of the psychological response to trauma in terms of the repetition of abusive patterns of relationship, identification with the aggressor, self-blame, and the seeking of object contact through sexuality or violence. This is probably one of the most valuable books for clinicians who provide therapy to sexually abused children from multi-problem families.