The Labyrinth: Searching for a Way Out Through the Defences

The following text describes an analysis, ongoing for three years now, of a boy currently 12 years old, whose projective-expulsive functioning becomes evident through rude and vulgar words. The image of the Cretan labyrinth and its meanders, created by Daedalus as a “protection” against the ferocity of the Minotaur, were the inspiration for this narrative. The intricate defences that imprison the patient, with their characteristics of pathological organisation, resemble a labyrinth, and through this path, the analyst and the patient go on confronting the difficulties of the process. Insufficiently contained primitive parental objects are introjected by the patient as partial objects and vehemently projected. Transference is a constant target for much hatred and incontinence. As the analytic process continues, the initially inhospitable frame begins to change, slowly but noticeably. An important characteristic of this clinical case relates to the fact that it is an analysis conducted in two modalities: starting by means of video during the pandemic and, when working conditions allowed, transitioning to the present in-person modality, with a frequency of three times per week in both modalities.