E-Book of Articles - World Federation of Music Therapy

Sutton, Julie; Beyond the Ordinairy
to threat to survival. Theoretical perspectives vary but all contain the
lasting effects of these early life stages.
Experiences of real or perceived threat to survival have roots in our ability
as a species to survive. These experiences link with our early perceptions of
feeling safe or not safe. As infants we depend on our primary caregivers for
our physical and emotional security and these first relationships colour all
subsequent relationships. Conflicting ideas have emerged within literature
concerning this area, yet the impact of these early experiences of threat to
survival - or loss of safety - occur throughout.
While Freud initially hypothesised that hysteria was as a result of trauma,
he further developed his ideas towards more developmental models 30 .
Significantly, Freud recorded that it was possible to separate developmental
trauma and that experienced as a result of a single traumatic event. As we
know, Klein related such loss of feelings of safety to the early infant
experience of the breast 31 . When the feeding breast was removed the sense
of abandonment felt was overwhelming. Infant-caregiver observations have
revealed the overpowering nature of sensations for the infant in these
situations. The impact of this experience was at such an early stage of
development, before the resources or language for processing or
assimilating the experience. The experience of a traumatic event can thus
be seen as one of being abandoned by all that holds one safe (good internal
objects), leaving one at the mercy of that which appears to have caused the
trauma (hating and hateful objects). Bion wrote of "nameless dread" to
describe the state of the infant when mother could neither contain nor
tolerate the baby's anxiety and in turn magnifies this feeling. The infant is
left feeling helpless on the brink of disaster 32 .
30 Freud, S. (1901) The Psychopathology of Everyday Life Standard Edition Vol. 4-5
31 Klien, M. (1940) Mourning and its Relation to Manic-Depressive States In: „Love, guilt
and reparation and other papers, 1921-1946“ London, Hogarth (1947) pp 311-38
32 Bion, W. R. (1962) Learning from Experience London, Heinemann
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