Intake & Presenting Somatic Complaint
Nicole Compagnoni & Bankey L. Dubey
(SIS Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, (2020):27:2, 107-111).
The case:
Ms. X is a 27-year-old female, working as an attorney in Italy. She is currently living with her boyfriend in a comfortable apartment. She never had any problems during childhood and grew up in a healthy family atmosphere. As she described, she had a bad period in her life during late adolescence, in which the bond with her mother deteriorated, due to continuous misunderstandings. During this period, she chose to contact a psychotherapist to resolve the problems. After advice, she noticed improvement in her relationship with her mother.
Recently, she had to face another problem related to motherhood. She suffered an abortion. The abortion was consciously chosen by her and her partner, who scrupulously evaluated all the alternatives; however, for her, this was a very difficult choice to overcome. A few months later, she was administered Somatic Imagery Test (SIT), in which she projected disturbed physical and psychological discomfort. Overall, she managed to live a h
The Projective Stimulus & Subconscious Projection
The clinically significant SIT responses on pre and post administration are shown in Table 1 and interpreted using content analysis and psychoanalytic interpretation.
Table 1 shows clinically significant responses on Pre and Post administration”
Clinician Decoding & Subconscious Dynamics
After a year, I decided to administer the Somatic Imagery test to understand the changes and personal growth that the client had claimed during her journey to overcome the abortion trauma and to monitor the progress of psychotherapy. In the second administration, the patient had overcome most of the difficulties and showed improvement in her relationship with her mother, though the pain of the trauma which she had undergone after abortion was yet to be resolved.
The clinically significant SIT responses on pre and post administration are shown in Table 1 and interpreted using content analysis and psychoanalytic interpretation.
Table 1 shows clinically significant responses on Pre and Post administration
Image 4: “happy child, clown, atomic bomb" during first administration. Happy child and Clown are the normal response whereas atomic bomb indicates aggression. The happy child reflects her happy childhood and lots of fun and enjoyment like a clown. She confirms that as a child she felt very happy, full of ideas, cheerful and funny like a clown. Atomic bomb may indicate her active involvement with full of energy and vitality during childhood. She further confirms the fact that as a child she was very active and full of vitality. The atomic bomb may also indicate aggression which can be explored during therapy session. In the second test she perceived “Happy person, teddy bear, ball, clown”. Perception of Teddy bears is a very normal response which may also indicate that the feeling of aggression is processed after and during therapy.
Image 5: “Woman, (bandaged face, dancing woman and flessible) and apple” on first testing. Both are normal responses. However, “bandaged face” may indicate physical injury/trauma. Probably this might be the trauma of abortion w
Treatment Intervention & Longitudinal Recovery
Intervention Strategy: SIT diagnostic assessment followed by cognitive and psychodynamic therapeutic intervention.
Longitudinal Outcome: Resolution of acute somatic complaints and successful integration of affective boundaries.
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