This lecture explores the topic of skin in its actual and symbolic nature, including its functions as a physical and psychic boundary between “inside” and “outside”, and as both bridge and barrier between ourselves and others. We will explore skin further through a case study of a transgender woman who struggled with her relationship to her own skin as a result of severe childhood sexual trauma. The client’s story will be interwoven with a fairy tale, “The Seal Woman”, a story that follows a being who through the loss of her seal skin, is held hostage in the human realm, away from her own true nature.
