The psychotherapy of a six-year-old girl and her mother revealed many common features. The mother regressed to an anal sadistic stage in her mothering. The girl was fixated at approximately the same phase and was unable to resolve the Oedipal conflict. Ambivalence and reciprocal identification characterized their relationship. The child identified with the aggressive mother in many ways: jealousy, prejudice, hostility toward men, penis envy, anger, and depression. She identified with the aggressor and projected her guilt and unacceptable impulses. This led to the expression of anxiety and depression through outbursts of aggression.