Certain and Uncertain Aspects of a Trauma: Response to Doris Brothers

Abstract

In this response to Doris Brothers’ discussion in which she describes the process by which a “survival-threatening event” can create emotional meaning, I have attempted to illustrate two aspects of trauma; the trauma of a “bad” event and the trauma of “nothing.” A human being, existing in an uncertain world, faces a difficult task in maintaining the sense of being human. Despite the difficulty, the potential for finding meaningful experience in an empty and uncertain world, and perceiving a hopeful future, is one of the significant gifts of being human. As indicated in Kohut’s concept of “tragic man” (Kohut, 1977), though, it is inherently tragic for us that meaningful experience can be found only in a human relationship with others.