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'Prism of injury'

Marina* was referred to me by a child psychiatrist for therapy when she was 13 years old. Her story was shocking. Marina’s mother, who abused alcohol, was deprived of parental rights on the initiative of the girls’ father when Marina was five years old and her sister was three. Both daughters stayed with their father and no longer saw their mother. At the age of 11, Marina was raped by her father for the first time.  

When we met, Marina was living with her mother, who had regained her parental rights, and her mother’s second husband, as well as Marina’s sister and two younger children from the second marriage. Due to constant quarrels with her mother, Marina had begun to run away from home, and as a result she was obliged to visit a psychotherapist. We worked together for about four months and managed to establish good contact. Marina began to access difficult, deeply hidden experiences and talk about her relationship with her mother and stepfather. She willingly attended sessions. Her mother refused to join her, explaining that she was too busy.  

After one of the quarrels with her mother, Marina had an epileptic seizure. Examinations did not reveal any organic pathology, but Marina’s mother decided that it was too dangerous for her daughter to travel to psychotherapy alone. Attempts to bring Marina back into therapy were unsuccessful. Marina’s mother stopped answering phone calls from the Clinical Centre. We attempted to contact Marina’s school, but received no response.  

This case presents an example of the “prism of injury” through which Marina’s mother, who had endured her own severe traumatic experiences, looks at the world. This prevented her from noticing the serious consequences of Marina’s traumatic experience and taking action to help her. I believe this blindness and inaction comes from the emotional paralysis of being confronted with something so terrible.  

Even as a psychotherapist, I was troubled by seeing a child with such grave experience for the first time. It was the first case of incest in my practice, and I did not have the skills required to work with such children. I had to obtain them on my own from available sources. Lack of awareness, education and skill in the field of trauma blocked Marina from receiving help at earlier stages.  

This case also highlights the imperfection of the legal system, which re-traumatized Marina through unskilled interrogations. Marina’s father, her rapist, was present in the courtroom while she was testifying against him, and she did not have the support of a psychologist while listening to his testimony. He even managed to utter threats to Marina while passing by. I should point out that Belarus now has several interview rooms where a child is interviewed in the presence of a psychologist, but these are still rare. Court officials still lack training in the particularities of questioning children, which also creates a risk of re-traumatization.  

Finally, Marina’s case illustrates the lack of interdepartmental cooperation that made it impossible to begin therapy earlier or to resume therapy after it was interrupted. Marina was not referred to therapy during or after the trial due to a lack of communication between judicial and psychotherapeutic services. The school system did not follow up on our inquiries, and the confidentiality clause of the Law on Mental Health restricted us from seeking other ways to communicate with the girl’s family 

*name has been changed 

 

 

Photo by J W on Unsplash

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