In this article, the author analyzes an event from her family history in its intrasubjective, intersubjective and transsubjective dimensions. In the intrasubjective dimension, the onset of a psychosomatic symptom is seen to express difficulty in effecting a psychic process of working through and the pain related to the original event. In the intersubjective dimension, the family's communication processes are seen as making use of a broad range of language patterns that oscillate between symbolic resources, concrete action, and even somatic manifestations. In the transsubjective dimension, the importance of the meanings given to the event in the socio-cultural context is stressed.