I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY to give a reaction to this thoughtful and sensitive paper. I am particularly struck, in reading the clinical examples, by the qualities of careful thought, dedication and delicateness in Dr. Horner's way of being in the therapeutic situation.

As I read it, the paper starts out by positioning itself very close to the work of Margaret Mahler; then, in the general theoretical presentation, it goes on to a broader and more eclectic account of object relations and the self; and finally in the later sections, in its more specific focus on treatment issues and in the clinical examples, it returns to its opening linkage to a Mahlerian approach. I find myself more appreciative of the opening intention and the