ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the hypothesis of a transitional psychic matrix which governs the recognition of the child. The transitional psychic matrix is both internal and external to the ego. The fact that the mother carries within her a dream-double of the child allows her to recognise the real child and separate from him. The fact that the child has two locations is what allows him access to a human world. By translating the cries of the child into the language of the transitional matrix, the mother feels the pain of the child. A harmonious musical score is played in unison by mother and child, by the transitional matrix and the mother. Every crucial moment of human existence calls upon the transitional matrix that governs the passage from foetal life to breathing life, from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to adulthood. At these critical times, the flexibility, the anticipatory capacity, and the richness of the transitional matrix are solicited for support.
