Citation

White RS. Psychoanal. Q. 2015; 84(4): 893-920.

Affiliation

Member of the faculty at Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis in New Haven, Connecticut, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1002/psaq.12042

PMID

26443949

Abstract

In the analysis of a woman with multiple childhood traumas, the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" figured prominently. The author discusses the use of the fairy tale in this case at various levels. He suggests an interplay between a national myth, the fairy tale, and a personal myth-the patient's psychodynamics. The fairy tale can be used to illuminate personal meanings derived from it. In the experience of childhood trauma, the repeated reading of a fairy tale can help organize and defend against terrifying anxiety.

Language: en