The Importance of Confronting Childhood Trauma in Therapy

Miller emphasizes that true healing in psychoanalysis requires confronting and reliving the emotional wounds of childhood, rather than adhering to rigid theories that absolve parents of responsibility. She contrasts successful cases where patients processed their rage and grief with failures where therapists minimized childhood traumas. The story of Marie Cardinal, who successfully processed her emotions, exemplifies the potential for healing when trauma is confronted. 'It is essential for us to perceive the unintentional persecution of children by their parents, sanctioned by society and called child-rearing, if our patients are to be freed from the feeling imposed on them from an early age that they are to blame for their parents’ suffering.'