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OUR INTEREST IN THE TECHNICAL PROBLEMS OF TREATING CHILDREN whose forward moves are held back because of an unconscious interplay between themselves and one or both of their parents is not a new one. This paper sets out to describe the analytic treatment of a 12-year-old boy who at the time of referral was locked in an ongoing preoedipal partnership with his mother which was so intense that therapeutic insight in the patient alone seemed unlikely
to counteract the pull exerted by the partnership. In addition, the deep-seated loyalty conflict which was aroused by any attempt to separate Paul emotionally from his mother pervaded all areas of his life and threatened to make treatment impossible. Indeed, he presented a picture which on the surface seemed quite intractable.
During the first weeks of treatment, Paul was so unwilling to attend, even with his mother sitting in the treatment room, that it seemed unlikely that an analysis could be sustained. Insuring his attendance thus became in itself a considerable technical problem.
Our method of choice for such a case, namely, the simultaneous analysis of mother and child as described in previous publications (Levy, 1960); (Sprince, 1962), was precluded by this mother's pathology.
A crucial feature in the handling of this case, therefore, lies in the modification of technique that made it possible for Paul to participate in a successful an