Abstract This poster will present the case of Taylor, a young Black woman working in data analytics. Taylor is diagnosed with depression, with symptoms of low mood, suicidal ideation, and persistent feelings of guilt, for which she received a long-term psychotherapy treatment. She has a background of childhood polytrauma. Taylor’s depression was originally conceptualized as stemming from her tendency to withdraw, based on relational anxieties related to vulnerability and intrusion. This withdrawal leads to detachment, emotional numbness, isolation, self-sufficiency, and occasional depersonalization. From a psychodynamic lens, this is consistent with prominent schizoid traits, as defined by Harry Guntrip.
Interpersonal psychoanalysis assists in reframing Taylor’s difficulties from the lens of trauma and dissociation. Chronic trauma can cause rigid and overactive dissociation, leading to static, inflexible ways of being, an atrophied sense of inner vitality, and difficulty navigating the dynamic demands of adult life. In Taylor’s case, traumatic experiences and an intrusive childhood environment led her to dissociate emotional states which were too intense, retaining functional, yet affectively numb states, which are not threatening to her sense of safety. Rather than viewing personality as fixed, interpersonal psychoanalysis believes that giving Taylor new relational experiences can help her access interpersonally connected ways of being which were previously inaccessible. For Taylor, experiences of being heard, understood, and mirrored in therapy increased her engagement in relationships and in the world.
This poster will draw on Taylor as a case example for conceptualizing schizoid tendencies in the context of trauma and dissociation, especially in the context of confounding factors. It will draw on theorists such as Philip Bromberg, Stephen Mitchell, and Harry Stack Sullivan. Finally, this poster will offer clinicians recommendations for best practices in engaging and supporting similar patients.
Details of this case have been changed to protect confidentiality, in accordance with APA guidelines.
