ABSTRACT
The holding model classically has been associated with that element of psychoanalytic treatment linked to the earliest period of the infantmother relationship. A rosy vision of mother and child in tender embrace is deeply embedded in those images of motherhood rendered palpable by such painters as Renoir and Cassatt. There is something enormously compelling about the idea of an idyllic early period between mother and infant. This maternal figure lives for her baby; she delights in her infant's dependency and is sustained and enriched by her baby's greedy use of her. She easily gives up those aspects of her own life that are incompatible with motherhood because of her power ful positive response to her new baby. She never appears to be so fatigued or conflicted that she is unwilling or unable to meet her infant's needs. Within this romantic metaphor, the infant is similarly viewed-every feed is satisfying, every holding moment soothing. Colic, fatigue, frustration, or otherwise mismatched responses do not cause more than a momentary wrinkle in the smooth, satisfying inter play that characterizes the mother-infant bond. Clearly, the enormous appeal of this image speaks to our persistent longing for an utterly nonconflictual, intimate maternal connection.
