“Bloody Feet”

Abstract

This article describes the brief analysis of an eight-year-old, born prematurely, who appeared to have body memories going back to the time he spent in an incubator in a neonatal intensive care unit. These memories were responsible later in his life for behavior that first appeared psychotic, but that eventually were understood to be a result of posttraumatic stress dating back to painful medical treatments and tests that he had to undergo as an infant. In a nine-session analysis conducted according to the tripartite therapy model, his past experiences were reconstructed and worked through. His bizarre behaviors stopped, and his development resumed along more normal lines. The author discusses the implications of this case for neonatal care, for child psychiatric diagnosis and intervention, and for the understanding of psychiatric symptoms that develop later in life. With the support of recent research, she also challenges some ideas of Freud and Mahler about the limits of memory in infants.