ABSTRACT
"One half of the theory of the parent-infant relationship", D. W. Winnicott wrote, "concerns the infant and the infants journey from absolute dependence, through relative dependence, to independence. The other half of the parent-infant relationship concerns maternal care, that is to say the qualities and changes in the mother that meet the specific and developing needs of the infant towards whom she orientates". The pathologically preoccupied mother not only goes on being identified with her baby too long, but also she changes suddenly from preoccupation with the infant to her former preoccupation. Object presenting can be said to embrace not only the initiation of interpersonal relationships, but also the introduction of the whole world of shared reality to the baby and growing child. In the unconscious fantasy of the child it is always on his or her own father and mother that a claim is made fundamentally.
