VOCSMAT: a connectionist-inspired treatment proposal for relational traumas

Psychological traumas are the main cause of post-traumatic stress disorder, which can be either simple or complex. Psychological traumas of various kinds are also present in a wide range of psychological conditions, including disorganised attachment, personality disorders, eating disorders, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. For such conditions, traumatic experiences are often regarded as an exacerbating factor of symptoms induced by another major causative agent, often of a genetic-biological nature. The objective of this work is to propose an alternative vision, in which traumatic experiences represent an essential ingredient for the aforementioned conditions. This vision is based on a functional model of the mind, built around the concept of relational value, with ideas borrowed from the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence and neural networks. The analysis of mental dynamics accounts for the use of dissociation as primary response to trauma, explains the emergence of splitting as secondary defence line, and identifies in selective dissociation the tool used by the mind to survive and function in traumatic contexts. Finally, the insight gained through the model is used to sketch a new psycotherapy for psychological traumas.