In the case of chronically insensitive or misattuned caregiving, a fault is created in the construction of the self, whereby the infant is forced to internalize the representation of the object's state of mind as a core part of himself.
Fonagy, P., György, G., Jurist, E. L., & Target, M. (2004). Affect regulation, mentalization, and the development of the self. Karnac.
In contexts of relational trauma the caregiver, in addition to dysregulating the infant, withdraws any repair functions, leaving the infant for long periods in an intensely disruptive psychobiological state that is beyond her immature coping strategies.
Schore, A. N. (2001). Early relational trauma on right brain development. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22(1– 2), 201–269.
Alienation from the self is often necessary, too, to maintain some semblance of attachment to grossly neglectful and abusive caretakers – an under-rated but important survival instinct when we are young enough to be dependent on our caretakers.
Fisher, J. (2017). Healing the fragmented selves of trauma survivors: Overcoming internal self-alienation. Routledge.
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