Special difficulties arising when analyst and analysand have a different socio-cultural background are illustrated by a fragment of an analysis. Two difficulties are enlarged upon, the mutual feeling of estrangement between analyst and analysand and difficulties arising when a subject is not able to use his mother tongue. The feeling of estrangement may lead to the premature emergence of early negative transference reactions. Language

difficulties may lead to operational thinking. The feeling of estrangement can be traced back to its first manifestation which is experienced at about eight months of age, at the sight of the strange face.