Muriel Salmona, psychiatrist. “Releasing her words, Judith Godrech fully acknowledges her horror”

He began by telling a story. In Icon of French cinemaA brilliant and bittersweet series airing on Arte in December, Judith Godrech stars as an actress trying to make a comeback. And flashbacks show how she started her career as a teenager by starting a relationship with a much older director. Then on January 8, Judith Godresh revealed the latter’s name first on social networks and then in an interview. Everyday Benoit Jaco, director beggars, released in 1988. On February 6, 2024, Judith Godresh filed a complaint. And two days later detailed the most embarrassing episodes of their history In an interview with France Inter , with palpable emotion in his voice.

Judith Godrech’s words are all the more impressive because we see them in “real time”, before our eyes, stage by stage. A Mechanism Muriel Salmona Analyzes for Us, Psychiatrist, President of the Association for Traumatic Memory and Victimization, and Author Black Book of Sexual Violence (1).

Madame Figaro .- How did you feel when you were listening to Judith Godrech’s testimony regarding France Inter?
Muriel Salmona.I found it very strong and very fair compared to what I know about these situations. Judith Godresh is very brave. I think he really wants to protect anyone who might be in this situation. She talks about what she felt, this colonization she suffered, that shuts down the victims. It is very difficult to get out of it. What is certain is that it is very liberating for him, but also for many people who have gone through it.

This conversation was first made through a series he produced, Icon of French cinema . How can fiction help express trauma?
Fiction allows you to get out of yourself, to look at a character who lives the same life as you. This is what we continue to do in the treatment of victims of domestic violence. Very quickly patients are told: “If your best friend told you what you told me, what would you think? Would you consider that normal? Do you think he is responsible for what happened to him?’ The fact of creating a fictional character allows us to have this absolutely necessary distance to escape from this well-known traumatic memory, conditioned by the scenario created by the aggressor, how he looks at us and which makes us feel guilty; we tell him that we have no legitimacy, that condemning things would be a betrayal, a way of not recognizing his importance, all that he has contributed. There is always a concept of dominance. Distance helps us realize this.

How do you explain this word that occurs in stages?
This is always a bit like how it goes, if you are listened to, of course. Because it is always the same problem: the victims speak, but their words are often distorted, they are turned against them, they are attacked. Judith Godresh understood the legitimacy of her words for the first time. Then, once we start, we tell ourselves we have to see it through. Explain in detail what happened, what is behind this violence, this performance of horror. Judith Godrech wants to tear back the veil, protect others, but also ensure that this mystification no longer exists. We can imagine what a shock it must have been for him to discover this documentary by Gerard Miller (in 2011, the psychoanalyst, himself accused of sexual abuse, questioned Benoit Jacquet about his relationship with the actress in a film entitled: The tricks of desire, Editor’s note) See that all this is predatory. everything is intentional, designed to control, to exploit the other. Dismantling these gears really becomes a necessity. And the more he listens to her talk, the more obvious things become.

One of the problems with psychological, physical and sexual abuse is that it creates a very significant trauma that will put you in a state of dissociation. Predators can continue to do whatever they want without you feeling a thing. This emotional numbing is a brain-saving process that turns off emotions so that a person can survive. We develop a kind of tolerance for the worst situations, because we do not experience them, we are spectators. Therefore, it becomes more difficult to condemn them. In the case of Judith Godrech, it is impressive to see how her emotions are more palpable. He frees her and fully acknowledges the horror of what could have been for her, and what could be happening now, for young girls and all these teenagers who are going through the same thing.

This explains why victims often speak up long after the fact…
Yes, it is because it takes a lot of time to get out of the format that has lasted for many years. It’s a bit like being in a complete fog that we’re slowly getting out of. In theory, this is where specialized trauma care is needed. But even so, it takes years to restore the power, to restore one’s own “I”.

Judith Godresh says that by reading Agreement By Vanessa Springora, was the trigger. in an open letter to his daughter that was published The world He talks about “tachycardia”, “desire to vomit, drop in temperature”. How can we explain these physical sensations?
When we begin to come out of separation, out of control, everything we’ve experienced comes to the fore. What Judith Godrech describes, the revulsion of the other’s body, what it imposed, the fear, the pain, all reappear. It is exactly the same as reflux from anesthesia. When you have a tooth pulled, when the anesthetics no longer work, the pain returns. We did not feel it, although it actually existed. And the resulting traumatic memory is always very positive. This means that a person really gets out of this system of control.

How does speaking out contribute to healing?
It is complicated in terms of stress, impact. usually the key word in caring for traumatized people is that they are safe, protected. There, Judith Godrech reveals herself, but this puts her in a position to hear her say certain things, and therefore to answer questions. This is what we do in psychotherapy work, which allows us to create words about what we experience. And it also allows you to participate in the implementation of events. This is indeed the trajectory of most of my patients and a sign that they are getting better and better; they are committed to ensuring that this never happens again. What Judith Godrech does is a gift. It’s very brave and really important.

(1) The Black Book of Sexual ViolenceDunod, 2022