Fifth Session

Richard began by saying that he felt very happy. The sun was shining. He had made friends with a little boy about seven years old and they played in the sand together, building canals. He said how much he liked the playroom and how nice it was. There were so many pictures of dogs on the walls. He was looking forward to going home for the weekend. The garden there was very nice but, when they first moved in, ‘one could have died’ when one saw the weeds. He commented on Lord Beaverbrook's change of job and wondered if his successor would be as good.

Mrs K. interpreted that the playroom was ‘nice’ because of his feelings about her, the room also standing for her. The new friend represented a younger brother. This was bound up with his wish for a strong father who would give Mummy many babies (the many dogs). She also interpreted his concern that, if he pushed Daddy out (as Bobby did), he would take Daddy's place but would be unable to make babies and hold the family together. He was also happy because he was going home and, in order to keep the family life friendly, he wished to inhibit his desire to take Daddy's place. The weeds stood for himself when he upset the family peace by his jealousy and competition with his father. He had used the expression ‘one could have died’ when referring to the weeds, because they represented something dangerous.

Richard sneezed and became very worried.1 He wondered whether he was starting a cold and said, half to himself: ‘He knows his blows’, meaning to say, ‘He blows his nose’, and was very amused when Mrs K. drew his attention to this slip of the tongue.

Mrs K. went on to interpret his fear of a cold as something bad inside him, hence the blows.

Richard again looked at the map and asked which countries remained neutral. Sweden was one of them, but this might not last long. Then he bent down and looked at the map upside-down and commented what a ‘funny’ shape Europe had when looked at that way. He said it was ‘not