ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author discusses the model of triangular space and the third position from particular clinical experiences. His theorising was based essentially on Melanie Klein's model of the early Oedipal situation (1928) and Wilfred Bion's model of the container/contained (1959, 1962a, 1962b). Rosenfeld described some patients as thick-skinned narcissistic patients in contrast to thin-skinned narcissistic patients. Moreover, when the sensitive narcissistic patient is treated in analysis as if he is the thick skinned patient he will be severely traumatized. The author suggests that these two states are the result of two different relationships of the subjective self to the third object in the internal Oedipus triangle. The chapter discusses examples of two models, first that of hyper-objectivity and narcissistic detachment, the thick-skinned patients. The second is characterised by their hyper-subjectivity and narcissistic adherence. What clinically characterises this group of cases is their difficulty.
