The Psychodynamics of Trauma and Modern Horror Cinema

I Am What Haunts Me

Carlos Pitillas, Ismael Martínez-Biurrun

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Hardback

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English

Routledge
17 February 2025

Film, TV & Radio; Film & movie: styles & genres; Media studies; Psychoanalytical theory (Freudian psychology); Psychotherapy

In this illuminating volume, Carlos Pitillas and Ismael Martínez-Biurrun provide in-depth analysis of contemporary horror films from a psychoanalytic perspective.

Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis, object relations theory and relational psychoanalysis, the authors explore the ways in which horror films present different aspects of traumatic phenomenology and the re-emergence of unprocessed traumatic wounds. Covering films as diverse as Psycho, The Babadook, Black Swan, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, the authors dissect the use of symbolism and metaphors in popular horror cinema to show how the disruptive threats faced by characters in these films often function in the same way as post-traumatic stress disorder, and consider behaviours such as repetitive thoughts and actions, dissociation, and more through the lens of neuroscience and narrative theory.

This book is an important and novel read for all psychoanalysts in practice and training looking for new ways to understand and work with clients who have experienced traumatic life events. The authors’ use of familiar and canonical horror films also equips students and researchers of film studies with the knowledge necessary to integrate psychoanalytic theories into their work.

By: Carlos Pitillas, Ismael Martínez-Biurrun
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 412g
ISBN: 9781032743790
ISBN 10: 1032743794
Pages: 130
Publication Date: 17 February 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Carlos Pitillas is an associate professor and researcher in the department of Psychology at Comillas Pontifical University, Spain. He is a psychotherapist working with children, adolescents, and adults. His interests focus on early socioemotional development and attachment relationships; relational trauma and its intergenerational transmission; interpersonal psychoanalytic psychotherapy; and intersections between psychology and popular culture. His current teaching covers developmental psychology, psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and child and adolescent psychotherapy. He is the Director of the upcoming master’s degree in Psychoanalytic Contemporary Psychotherapy at Comillas Pontifical University. Ismael Martínez-Biurrun is an award-winning novelist, creative writing teacher, and adjunct lecturer at Comillas Pontifical University, Spain. He has published nine novels and has had his work included in several short story anthologies. His work combines psychological thriller with horror and urban fantasy.

Reviews for The Psychodynamics of Trauma and Modern Horror Cinema: I Am What Haunts Me

‘Pitillas and Martínez-Biurrun’s expert two-hander represents a milestone in trauma approaches to horror film. The Psychodynamics of Trauma and Modern Horror Cinema carefully interweaves narrative analysis with relevant insights from clinical psychology to make a compelling case for the genre’s ability to mediate traumatic events and capture the complexities of psychic wounds. Already very popular in its home country, the book is poised to reach an even wider audience thanks to this new revised edition in English.’ Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes, author of Contemporary Body Horror (2024) and Gothic Cinema (2020)