Case Response II: Jorge de la O

The case of Chloe begins with an important question, how does one liberate a young girl's sense of her sexual self when it has been abducted by the appetite of others? How does the victim of childhood sexual violence find their essence, their sense of self when it has been criminally violated? These, and perhaps other questions, are paramount in this clinical case. In her first months of treatment,

Chloe expresses her pain and current sense of self. She writes, “I don't know if I am real because I can't feel my body, I feel lost and empty.” Jungian analyst Denise Ramos (2004) reminds us that the body speaks long before conscious realization of what is going on. Psyche and soma are very present in the initial stage of analysis. Chloe has become alienated from her natural developmental growth process both emotionally and physically and is experiencing numerous emotional and somatic symptoms. Ultimately, this case is about recovery.

Chloe does not want to be sexually objectified, but as she acts out sexually and unconsciously relives the sexual abuse, she is objectified. This cyclical drama can be seen during her 18-month absence from analysis when she adopts a pseudonym (named “Kate” by the therapist) and becomes self-employed via a website service as a “sugar baby.” Her therapist writes that Chloe “masquerades as Kate, the exhibitionist, innocent and sexualized child-like girl.” We can imagine that Chloe's psyche has led her to embody this persona to confront her trauma, not simply to control others sexually as she states, but to re-enact how the sexual trauma of the past controls her conscious life today. This is an addictive merry-go-round such that when she engages in such sexual behaviour, her analyst writes, “depression increases, and she experiences paralysis.” Chloe states that she is in control but also observes that her life is about “performing or numbing out.” She exhibits such symptoms as binge- eating, hair-pulling, and depression. In the conscious wor