Mothers, daughters, and hatred: The void in the mirror.

This article addresses the question of early maternal emotional absence, maternal hatred and its impact on the relationship between mothers and daughters. I will focus on adult female patients who grew up with mothers whose personalities were organized around a psychotic core—often subtle and hidden—and who mirrored a sense of self shrouded by emotional absence and hatred whenever their daughters could not intuitively meet their needs. These mothers desperately need to merge and be magically rescued and relieved from their own unbearable pain, fears, and misery. I integrate Andre Green’s concepts of the dead mother and the negative, Winnicott’s foundational concept of the mother’s mirror role, and Sheldon Bach’s focus on gaps in states of consciousness experienced as “psychic death.” I will address some of the developmental aspects that color the psychology of these women and the deadness that lies behind the fused, disorganizing, and all-consuming dynamics between these mothers and their daughters. Finally, I will address some of the clinical challenges we encounter when working with these women. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Source: Psychoanalytic Psychology - February 6, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research