The author describes the genital phase as being what the oral phase is to birth trauma. The apparent contradiction between her ideas and Freud's descriptive content is based on the fact that, according to Freud, the phallic phase is included in the resolution of the Oedipus complex, while the stage that she is studying initiates Oedipus fantasies. Walking and language, to her, are equivalent to being born; i.e., it is a dual proposition which permits separation from the mother figure, but at the same time attempts to preserve the love object.