Transgenerational transmission of indigestible facts: from trauma, deadly ghosts and mental voids to meaning-making interpretations.

In this paper I will discuss clinical material and make some hypotheses on how to work with patients for whom trans-generational transmission of trauma is an issue. Basing my hypothesis on two clinical cases, I will propose a way of dealing with undigested facts, the fabric of trauma, which generate deadly ghosts and mental voids that are transmitted from one generation to the next. I will propose a way of formulating interpretations for the unthinkable to become thinkable and find a representation in the mind of patients who suffer from transgenerationally transmitted trauma. Some thoughts will be given to the maternal and the paternal transmitters of trauma in relation to child development issues.