The author cites two detailed case histories of schizophrenic or borderline

patients who had dream screen experiences. These occurred in the stage in therapy when narcissistic identification was being replaced by true object relationship (to the preoedipal mother). The dream screen episodes closely followed a threat of the loss of the therapist who was going on vacation. Apparently this threat was intensified by an environmental event which strongly reminded the patient of a severe childhood trauma when he was deserted by the mother. The author interprets the dream as a wish to fuse with the mother symbiotically and to renounce the ego and object relationships as a defense against threatened loss of the love object. Analysis quickly established recovery to the previous state of relationship with the therapist.