Trauma and narrative

the impact of leukemia in childhood

Abstract

This paper presents a research on the impact of infant leukemia on children’s subjectivity. The work was guided by the psychoanalytic concept of trauma, as defined by Sigmund Freud, Donald Winnicott and Sándor Ferenczi. To listen to the experiences of children in treatment for leukemia, semi-open interviews were conducted at Hemorio (State Institute of Hematology Arthur de Siqueira Cavalcanti). A qualitative analysis of those narratives highlights the specific aspects of trauma, such as: the excess, the helplessness, the invasions, the denial and the threat of death. Thus, out of the impact, comes the need to elaborate: through narrating and playing.