Bearing Witness

'In their discussion of torture, the contributors to this book write of what its victims cannot put into words and the work that has to be done with them to that end. Working with a victim's account of a traumatic experience goes much further than any debriefing technique would have us believe - above all, victims need someone to listen carefully to what they have to say; that person will be the first to offer a refuge for the pain of those who have no internal "shelter" of their own.The authors go on to discuss the kind of mental processing that can free victims from their unspeakable trauma, a trauma that has no framework in time nor words with which to express it.Under the skilful editorship of Andres Gautier and Anna Sabatini, this book asks of both psychoanalysts and politicians a question that goes right to the heart of their "impossible professions".- Rene Kaes, from the Foreword