There has been an increase in the number of officially reported cases of incest along with an increase in the number of incest-related publications. Yet there is little documentation of mother-son incest, and the psychoanalytic literature on this subject remains equally sparse. By contrast, a popular myth persists that mother-son, or older woman-boy relationships can be beneficial. This paper is the first of several that will attempt both to fill the gap in the literature, and to refute the popular mythology, by focusing on one male patient and the developmental consequences of his incestuous relationship with his mother. Also discussed is the impact of the incest on his later treatment, which was characterized by unusually intense resistances and transference-countertransference reactions.