Appendix: The Spontaneous Discussion

This appendix is similar to a panel report in that it summarizes the spontaneous discussion that was a central aspect of the workshop from which this volume derives. The discussion focused primarily on theoretical issues related to fundamental questions such as: What is trauma and how do we define it; what is reconstruction; and what is therapeutic or mutative in clinical work with patients who have experienced discrete and often overwhelming experiences that many observers would consider traumatic? In addition, in response to Dr. Pulver's questions, the panelists commented on the application of their psychoanalytically informed understanding to more delimited clinical work with traumatized children and their families, that many participants in the workshop encounter in their daily work.

Although very significant differences of opinion existed on the central theoretical questions being considered, all the panelists agreed with Dr. Cooper's introductory remarks to the panel he chaired. Cooper noted that we live in a universe whose intellectual content, affective dispositions, and social arrangements have been pervasively influenced by two world wars, the Holocaust, nuclear capacity, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. Cooper emphasized that in one particular way our time is different, for we perceive our catastrophes through the filter of a century of analytic influence. Cooper suggested that this analytic perspective influences people involved in issues relating to child rearing to be especially interested in protecting a child against trauma.