ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how developmental failures result in the need for long-term treatment. Failure to build a strong psychic foundation results in accommodations and defenses that are fragile and prone to collapse in the face of ordinary life stressors. The author uses two case examples to show how missing critical steps in normative development can result in shaky psychic structures. Such psychic fragility requires long treatment to build emotional capacities where heretofore none have existed.
