Discussion of “Culturally Imposed Trauma: The Sleeping Dog Has Awakened. Will Psychoanalysis Take Heed?”: Commentary on the Paper by Dorothy Evans Holmes

Abstract

This commentary expands on the problem of culturally imposed trauma described by Dorothy Evans Holmes. The focus on cultural trauma is both timely and necessary. I applaud Holmes’s attention to this important issue, and her clear articulation of its effects on intrapsychic and interpersonal life and the reluctance of psychoanalysis to engage with cultural trauma. My commentary explores two primary areas in an effort to further elaborate this issue: (a) The problem of defining cultural trauma as a legitimate type of trauma, and recognizing resistance to cultural trauma in psychology and psychoanalysis, and (b) the role of cultural context and narrative in addressing cultural trauma within psychoanalytic work. I aim to extend the range of questions concerning race, culture, and social class that remains to be examined in psychoanalysis.