Analyses of three women showed the persistence or re-appearance of the use of transitional objects and behavior from childhood, such as sheet twisting, having to carry about a special object, or compulsive eating when sexually excited. The mothers of all three showed various disturbances. In two of the cases, the unrelieved dread that the analyst would eventually tire of them and 'kick them out' was traced to the conviction that their mothers, who showed extraordinary devotion and concern, had failed to permit them development as individuals. In all three the terminal phase was exceptionally stress-producing. In one, transitory regression to psychosis occurred, but the patient's discovery of the therapist's undeniable affection for her enabled her to evolve an exceptionally promising social recovery and, after therapy, marry and bear a child.