This article describes the clinical treatment of a woman whose history was marked by cumulative parental neglect, and who initially presented with deficiencies and disruptive excesses in multiple domains of her life, including eating. Object relations and intersubjectivity theories are drawn upon to conceptualize the patient’s early developmental strivings. In this case, a potentially fracturing enactment propels developmental progression, and helps build regulatory processes. The author (therapist) argues that it is this event and subsequent transitions to object usage and then to intersubjectivity that ultimately foster a relinquishment of the patient’s extremes, as well as a sustaining exchange of nourishment between her and the patient.