Rainbow in the Dark: Mere Psychotherapy, Part 2

“Play, like dreams, serves the function of self realization.” ~ D.W. Winnicott

This is a recounting of a client I worked with many years ago, maybe in 2015 or so. As with all posts in this series there are “murals of metaphors” abundant in the original story telling which is left largely intact from my original recounting of the story — which itself has been a few years ago. The final “afterward” is a more modern reflection on my own reflection of the story.

“Play, like dreams, serves the function of self realization.” ~ D.W. Winnicott

“Trauma occurs when there is an encounter with the Real, which denies signification.” ~ Lacan

Sahira’s case is unique in that I encountered her long before I had any intention of writing these essays. Yet, it was a very specific and subtle moment that occurred to me as an intern therapist that remains a point of conversation to this day between the (then) supervising therapist and myself more than 5 years later.

Sahira is five years old when she is enrolled in our Partial Hospitalization Program. She is a particularly violent and vola…