It is a privilege to comment on this session and on the work of a skilled therapist in his treatment of Rebecca. The therapist vividly conveys the session, including his own internal shifts and the patient’s movement between her different states of mind, or what I refer to as self-states.

In the previous session, Rebecca reported that she had recently cut herself using a set of antique razors bought for her by her father. Hearing this in the context of Rebecca’s history, I thought of the ‘family secret’ regarding her father’s mental health issues that had been disclosed by her older siblings. Why would he buy her antique razors?