Seminar by Lars Oian, a Jungian psychoanalyst from Norway, on working with traumatized children and their families

On October 17 -18, 2025, we had a seminar held by a Norwegian Jungian psychoanalyst on psychotherapy with traumatized children and their families. It was very interesting to participate, as working with children from a Jungian perspective is discussed less often than working with adults. Lars Oian works in Bergen, Norway, in a state-funded child support system called the "Children's House". This institution assists children who have been victims of violence and abuse, and its goal is to ensure that children receive immediate and comprehensive help. Lars Oian described how, within a few days of the violence being reported, he goes to talk to the child, and sometimes this can mean a five-hour journey through the mountains.

The cases presented by the analyst combined work with the family, social assistance, interviews, criminal proceedings, and at the same time, psychotherapeutic assistance to the child and a deep internal process of healing, reflected in sand play, drawings, and therapeutic relationships. Lars Oian spoke about the fragmentation of the inner world after experiencing single or multiple traumas, dissociation, and the inner figures that arise in therapy, which both protect the psyche and imprison it. In his work, the analyst pays a lot of attention to the real relationship with the child - for example, it is important whether the child simply likes him as a person. An interesting example was given of how he tried to establish a relationship with the child by riding a real tractor with him. The analyst uses active physical games, role-playing with dolls, and similar activities. At the same time, a symbolic process and Jungian analysis take place, where he meets the child on an inner level, trying to see and hear the child's needs, cries for help, and threats.

The seminar was encouraging, hopeful, and empowering. The cases were complex, difficult, and painful, but the inner process that was revealed allowed us to see the children's potential and resources and to once again feel the meaning and importance of psychotherapeutic work.

Marija Giedraitytė – Guzikauskienė, LAAP member candidate