This paper studies identity as an early disposition of links and bonds to a primary maternal object. It is argued that a coalescence of primary identifications during early mother/child symbiosis evolve and organize an “identity theme” (Lichtenstein, 1977) that guides identity formation. Early identity expresses the workings of the pleasure principle as manifest by the child's desires for narcissistic gratification. A coalescence of the mind, a consolidation of the thematic organization of one's narcissistic desires and representations, it is argued, takes place. It is influenced by the child's comprehension of the conscious and unconscious wishes and needs of the mother for the child, and becomes a relatively fixed manner of gratifying and maintaining narcissism, self-esteem and identity.

Identity trauma is viewed as the product of the mother's failures to facilitate or allow for the continuity of a personal sense of agency in the child. It introduces conflict and ambivalence and the decathexis of mother's representations, and are associated particularly with anxieties regarding dependency and fears of intrusiveness. Problems in these areas destabilize identity and self-esteem, and lead to defensive maneuvers that reduce or expel (repress) subjective experience.

In the treatment of identity-disturbed patients, conflicts of dependency and fears of intrusion are exhibited by difficulties of the patient to modulate between wishes for closeness to the analyst and needs to avoid such closeness. In treatment, identity-disturbed patients seek narcissistic stability from the analyst through subtle cues and patterns of appeal for acceptance and affirmation, preconsciously and unconsciously elicited and activated by the patient. A consensual intersubjective agreement (tacit contract), and its expression in the therapeutic process, develops between analyst and patient and can become an important focus of discussion and integration of the patient's identity. Resonant analyst countertransferences are also considered. Clinical material is provided to illustrate the ideas discussed.