Fragments and Wholeness & Healing

Personal Reflections on Trauma, Kalsched, and the Path to Indwelling…

Reading and Reflection: Kalsched’s Psyche and Her Daimon Lover: The Inner World of Trauma

I am currently reading and studying Kalsched’s book Psyche and Her Daimon Lover: The Inner World of Trauma, and I am on Chapter 8.

Winnicott’s Concept of Indwelling

Winnicott’s concept of indwelling refers to the capacity of the self to inhabit the body and psyche fully, to feel at home in oneself. It is the opposite of being split off or dissociated. In other words, when a person indwells, their body, mind, and spirit are integrated, and their conscious self can live inside the emotional and somatic experience of life without being overwhelmed. It is a deep sense of embodied presence and psychic cohesion.

Trauma and the Reversal of Indwelling

In early trauma, this indwelling is reversed or blocked. The psyche must protect the personal spirit. Kalsched says that trauma often causes a dissociation between the somatic, the body-based, and spiritual, the archetypal or daimonic, poles of experience. The body may feel frozen, hypervigilant, or fragmented. The spiritual, creative, or intense emotional energies, the daimonic forces, are split off to protect the core self. This split allows survival. It is a psychic strategy. The ego self organises experience so that the most essential aspects of the self remain intact, even if other parts of the psyche are dismembered or dissociated.

In simpler terms, indwelling is inhabiting yourself fully. Trauma reverses indwelling, so the self cannot fully inhabit the body and psychic experience. Parts of experience are split off or protected. The purpose is to preserve the inner spirit from being overwhelmed or destroyed by trauma.

Kalsched links Winnicott’s idea of being at home in oneself with the trauma response of dissociation. Early trauma interrupts indwelling to protect the core self, even if it fragments somatic and daimonic energies.

Personal Reflection

In my own experience, I have seen how my indwelling was interrupted as a protective mechanism. It has been a non-linear path to reach out for help, to engage in therapy, and to explore various modalities. Over time, with reflection, guidance, and wisdom, I am coming to a place of indwelling, where I can feel more fully at home in myself.

If you would like support in your own journey, you can book sessions with me through my website: www.peneloperyder.com

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