After preliminary remarks about the risks of merging with the mother for the infantile psyche, the author underlines the need to adapt the setting to reach the mother-child unit, and work toward stable transformations of internal and external reality. The case of Davide and his mother exemplifies some technical aspects and developmental moments of mother-infant psychotherapy, shedding light on the child's role in the mother's transformations. The clinical process shows the gradual creation of a ‘third space’, later occupied by the father with an increasingly active participation in the analytic process, and how this led to a further adaptation of the setting.

KEY WORDS: Developmental risk, mother-child merging, mother-infant psychotherapy, setting adaptation, the father's space.