Mentalizing demons: A case study in working with auditory hallucinations

Mary is a 17‐year‐old female patient with whom I worked during her stay on an inpatient psychiatric unit following a significant suicide attempt in the midst of a breakup with her girlfriend. Mary reported a history of persistently depressed mood, post‐traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and chronic suicidal ideation. She conveyed a sense of feeling largely unsupported by the important people in her life. She felt particularly invalidated by her mother when she initially disclosed her experience of sexual trauma perpetrated by a close family friend as a young girl. She remembers her mother's response implying that she was “responsible for what happened.”