Trauma and the Soul: Loss of Innocence in Kindergarten—with Saundra Salyer

Trauma constitutes an interruption of the normal processes through which an embodied, true self comes into being. Through dissociation, trauma activates the automatic “self-care system,” organized by a remarkable intelligence in the Psyche which insures survival of the child (Donald Kalsched). The archetypal powers of this intelligence can develop into dark, self-persecutory systems, or organize

for the future growth and recovery of a lost heart of the self. This heart of the self, the soul, has potential to birth the Divine Child, a symbol of the true self which holds the power of rebirth and transformation.

My personal “case” material—a kindergarten incident which shattered my wholeness—will illustrate Kalsched’s classic Trauma and the Soul: A Psycho-spiritual Approach to Human Development and its Interruption. We’ll also explore the self-care system in Saint- Exupery’s The Little Prince—as well as in Jung’s early trauma, in his Personalities #1 and #2, his soul’s retreat into an inner sanctuary, and his gradual recovery of wholeness.

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