The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the analyses of Holocaust survivors' offspring

Abstract

This essay tackles the following issues: (a) The encounter of Holocaust survivor offspring whose damaged parents suffered from unresolved grief with a life-threatening pandemic; (b) Changes of technique that may be needed during this period; and (c) The impact of countertransference of the analyst in the analytic cure in a shared life-threatening situation. This theme will be examined by means of a case study, in which the life-threatening situation of the pandemic reactivated guilt feelings. These feelings belonged to the patient's relationship with her mother, as well as to the Holocaust survivor mother, who committed suicide as a result of her unresolved mourning.