2023-05-10 13:09:10
The psychologist also used the metaphor of the radioactive stone to evoke the trauma: “Psometimes you can put this stone in a drawer, but its effects will still be felt. There will be always a little light, you can never recover 100%”.
During this testimony, sobs were heard in the courtroom. They were those of Philippe Van Den Berghe, a regular at the trial. During a suspension, he explains to us: “The psychologist mentioned symptoms that I experienced personally. At one point, you become very emotional and you collapse”. This emotion, Nathalie Dexpert shares it. She too was destabilized by the psychologist’s statement: “It’s very difficult to digest to hear that the trauma will always be there. The psychologist has put into words what we know deep inside us. The road will still be long”.
Can such a trauma be simulated?
During questions from the civil parties, several lawyers questioned the witness regarding the possibility of simulating psychological trauma. And if it were possible to estimate an average time needed to overcome such a trauma. These questions are not innocent. Many victims have been confronted with such insinuations during their appointments with insurance doctors.
When asked regarding the simulation, psychologist Magali Huret was very clear: “It is the professional’s experience that will make it possible to identify whether a person is repeating symptoms that they have read on the internet or if they are really suffering. But sincerely, following having experienced this type of event, I do not see who might simulate “she said.
As to whether it is possible to estimate an average duration of persistence of a trauma, the psychologist answers: “No. In my practice, I cannot give average times. It depends on so many different factors, the traumatic experience is completely individual”. A response that opposes the diagnoses of certain doctors mandated by insurance. One of them had estimated that following a year the victim he had in front of him should be restored.
For Me Maryse Alié, member of the collective of lawyers representing the Life4Brussels association, this testimony was extremely valuable: “This testimony reminded us how important it is for the victims to be recognized. And the psychologist recognized it, some symptoms may still be there seven years later”.
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