Somatic illness and psychic reality

The onset of somatic illness constitues a trauma that requieres a rearangement of the Patient's psychic reality; The irruption of temporality and the collapse of infantile omnipotence lead to a problem of identity and subjects the Ego to the risk of melancholy or denial and pathological projection. The intervention of the psychotherapist can enable a better defensive arangement via mourning for the healthy Ego, whilst the patient's right to passivity remains a priority.