Ninety-Second Session

Richard was again more depressed and absent-minded to begin with. He said that he had been playing with John Wilson and John's friends. He at once got out the goods train and the electric train and made a station large enough to accommodate both. The electric train went to ‘Z’ and Richard said that he and Mrs K. were

on it. The goods train went out as well, but Richard did not give details of its destination. He made angry sounds representing the trains whenever they came near to each other. The play centred on avoiding collisions between the trains. They were often quite near to colliding, but Richard always prevented the disaster at the last moment, this conflict visibly giving rise to great mental strain in him. During this play Richard had repeatedly made suggestions about changes of times, choosing particularly times at which he knew quite well that Mrs K. saw other patients.

Mrs K. said she could not arrange the times he asked for but offered alternatives.

Richard, at one moment when both trains were standing in the station, suddenly said he felt unwell and had a pain in his tummy. He looked pale.

Mrs K. interpreted the station as Richard's inside. He expected all the time a collision inside him between the electric train, containing Mrs K. and the good Mummy, and the hostile goods train, standing for all the angry patients and children from whom Richard wanted to take Mrs K. away and run with her to his home town (Note I). Therefore he also wanted to change the time of his sessions, which meant taking Mrs K. away from everybody else. While Richard was striving to avoid a collision between the trains, because he did not wish to hurt Mrs K. and Mummy and their children and wanted to finish the analysis peacefully, he did not seem to believe that he could avoid the collision internally. This meant that he and Mrs K. would be hurt or damaged by his rivals. Therefore he had seemed so tense during this play and had a tummy ache (Note