Louise Gyler, 'The Violence of the Real: Silence and Transformation in the Analysis of an Adolescent'

The term, ‘psychic orphan’ is used to refer to a mostly silent patient who, for years, appeared to eschew the work of representation and to use psychoanalysis as ‘incubator’ to hold his timeless existence. Examples of the types of transformation that were eventually possible are described.  This psychoanalytic work raises questions about the psychic limits of the ‘talking cure’. Questions suggested include: in working with ‘psychic orphans’, are we are holding hope for future transformations; or colluding with illusion or even delusion?