You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Resilience in children has conventionally been defined as the capacity to negotiate ordinary developmental tasks successfully in spite of cumulative adversity (P. Fonagy et al., 1994; A. S. Masten et al., 1999; H. Stein et al., 2000; E. Werner & R. S. Smith, 1992). It has been attributed in part to the presence of “protective factors” in the child or in the environment (M. Rutter, 1985). The case of “Rita,” a young African American woman, is presented as an example of a person who developed extraordinary resilience as a child in the face of chronic abuse. She was able to create sustaining relationships in the “safe space” (J. Sandler, 1960) she achieved through the use of eye contact. The way she put eye contact to use to develop resilience is explored by means of attachment and psychoanalytic theory. Finally, her work in psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy is discussed.