Trauma in Ferenczi — Psychoanalytic listening beyond the principle of pedagogy

Abstract

This paper examines the development of Sándor Ferenczi’s understanding of trauma, highlighting his contribution to the establishment of a psychoanalytic clinic grounded in listening, empathy, and the recognition of traumatic experience. Drawing on key texts from his work, particularly those associated with the so-called “1928 turning point,” the study demonstrates Ferenczi’s theoretical shift away from the exclusive emphasis on unconscious fantasy toward the centrality of early relational experiences and the role of the adult in the genesis of trauma. Ferenczi conceptualizes trauma as a relational phenomenon characterized by intrusion, violence, and, above all, the disavowal of the child’s experience. Concepts such as the confusion of tongues, identification with the aggressor, narcissistic splitting, and the trauma of disbelief reveal the depth of his reflections on the psychic consequences of unacknowledged suffering. At the same time, he proposes a significant revision of classical psychoanalytic technique by emphasizing tact, authenticity, mutuality, and the use of countertransference as a clinical instrument. The paper also underscores the contemporary relevance of his legacy, reflected in its influence on authors such as Winnicott, Balint, Bion, and Kohut, as well as in current understandings of early trauma, borderline states, and environmental failures. It concludes that Ferenczi’s work extends beyond a theory of trauma to constitute an ethics of listening, committed to the acknowledgment of suffering, the validation of pain, and the symbolic reparation of experiences that remained without testimony.