Drowsiness in the countertransference, in the sense of a specific emotional response aroused in the analyst by specific qualities of the patient, has been described but rarely illustrated in the literature. Clinical material is presented, chiefly from the analysis of one patient in which striking accesses of drowsiness in the analyst aided the understanding of certain basic needs, coping mechanisms and defences of the patient, such as

the longing for and fear of fusion; the need to create a space in which to be herself and get in touch with absent objects; withdrawal as a way of controlling and mystifying; and splitting and projective identification. The phenomenon throws light on a possible disturbance of ego boundaries which is relevant to the emergence from primitive symbiosis and to somatization reactions.