This was a face-to-face treatment of a patient with narcissistic difficulties, who sought help for depression following the unelaborated mourning of her previous analyst. The initial clinical presentation was marked by traumatic elements, primary anality and a relational mode based on sticking to objects. After a separation due to the analyst's holiday, the sessions were invaded by a lateral transference, which was a defensive movement against the irruption of instinctual drive impulses of love and hate that were too intense. Tolerating this lateral transference gradually led to unexpected processual changes.