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The "cornerstone method," in the context of a community clinic, attempts to integrate psychoanalytic therapy with the therapeutic nursery education of preschool children. The analyst works in the classroom alongside two teachers for about two of the daily three hours of class time, four to five times a week. The authors report the case of a boy who was the second of three sons of an impoverished black couple. When he was two and a half, the mother developed an acute paranoid psychosis following the birth of the youngest child, and had a prolonged hospitalization. When she returned home, the father left and remained away for two years. At the onset of treatment at age four, the boy had profound developmental lags and grossly atypical behavior. He had practically no ability to relate to peers or adults, used little speech, his gaze wandered, his facial musculature was lax and unexpressive. His I.Q. on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was 53, but there were some positive affective and cognitive responses to the examiner. The treatment is described in considerable detail. In spite of an initially stormy course, the child progressively improved in every area of functioning, revealing an unanticipated responsiveness to psychoanalytic interpretation. Treatment ended after two years when the mother moved the family to a rural community in the South to be with her own mother. Follow-up three and a half years later produced enthusiastic reports from the mother and child's teacher about his behavior and accelerated learning. He was ready to be moved up to grade level. Many clinical and theoretical aspects of the case are discussed.