Reflecting Together on Trauma, Witnessing, and the Role of Psychoanalysis: A Response to Jill Salberg and Silvia Rivera

Jill Salberg and Silvia Rivera take up and extend our model of the Transgenerational Atmosphere, applying it to their own clinical and sociocultural context. Their reflections not only broaden the conceptual vocabulary we have proposed but also enrich the ways in which we think about transgenerational trauma and its transmission. A central thread that connects our papers, in essence, is a question – one that concerns us all: What can psychoanalysis do in such difficult times? Can we, as psychoanalysts, contribute to the working-through of transgenerational legacies and the mass traumas unfolding in the present, whether within or beyond the clinical frame? Is there a role for psychoanalysis in transforming – or metabolizing – the destructive forces within society? How might we create collective spaces – perhaps beyond those found in traditional therapy groups – in which societal-level witnessing and reciprocal listening can emerge?