This paper focuses on a long-term psychotherapy relationship with a woman who repeatedly finds herself in a void where nothing has meaning and words cannot be found to reflect upon her experiences. The author argues that this loss of ‘three-dimensional thinking’ has its origins in early relational trauma and can be understood in the light of recent theory on shame, dissociation, and disorganized attachment. The author highlights how attachment events in the present contribute to the fluidity of the client's capacity to mentalize, but also discusses how the therapy has provided the necessary security to transform a state of terrifying wordlessness into something that can be symbolized and therefore shared.