The Psychoanalyst in a Community Struck by Terrorism

I know how difficult it is to reconstruct a trauma. As a psychoanalyst, I have tried to help individuals who consult me to reconstruct past traumas, to understand them, perhaps to view them differently with a new perspective. In the human mind, there is always a sharp time divide between the before and the after of a trauma. In retrospect, Monday, September 10, 2001 now seems mundane. I taught a class in psychoanalytic theory and I saw patients in my private office on the upper West Side of Manhattan.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the world changed dramatically when the USA sustained violent, terrorist attacks by Islamic Fundamentalists. Used as missiles, hijacked passenger aircraft were purposefully flown into the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York, and into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Thousands of people who were going about their ordinary day were killed. Unprepared and overwhelmed by the spectacle of carnage, an acute public health crisis was created, involving millions who suffered from acute stress, trauma, and grief. Along with many New Yorkers, I was one of the traumatized, and I felt suddenly afraid, vulnerable, and helpless. That was the challenge: as one of the victims, to cope simultaneously with my own immediate terror, be aware of the exacerbation of my past traumas, and extend my psychoanalytic skills, not only to individuals but also to traumatized diverse community groups.

A Day of Disaster

The sheer spectacle of a jumbo jet flying into a building evoked an expectation of death, and the perception of time distorted and slowed. Unlike other psychoanalysts in New York City, who were already in the isolation of their offices, I was alone at home, waiting for the weather report on television. Three of my grown children were in schools in other cities. One daughter, living at home, was downtown, close to the site. My husband called from the gym to tell me to turn on the television.