Chantal Degril: ‘Are we all traumatised?’

‘Are we all traumatised?’ asks Chantal Degril in her presentation. Traumatisms are the result of the impact of a real event on the subject’s mind and body which is described well in the psychiatric category of PTSD, where causality is seen to be direct. This conception of trauma does not allow for the fact that traumatic events pass through the subject as a being in language. In psychoanalysis trauma is structural. This paper will address traumatisms from Freud’s early conceptualisation of the origins of trauma and Lacan’s developments especially in his later teaching, of concepts such as jouissance and lalangue. These views offer new perspectives on the clinical treatment of traumatisms and the symptoms they carry.

Attendance is free upon registration and detailed outlines and a bibliography for each seminar will be provided.

To register email Susan Schwartz at slschwartz5@gmail.com.

The Trans-Tasman Seminar

The Trans-Tasman seminar is the result of a collaboration between members of the Forum of Melbourne, Esther Faye and Susan Schwartz, and of the Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand, Chantal Degril, within the frame of the International of the Forums of the School of Psychoanalysis of the Forums of the Lacanian Field (IF-SPFLF). Its aim is to contribute to Lacanian discourse in our region and beyond by applying theoretical concepts to particular clinical cases. In 2024, Esther Faye and Susan Schwartz became members of the Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand.