ABSTRACT
Herbert Rosenfeld shows how one may handle this delicate situation in such a way as to access the relationship. This requires great wisdom and the ability to wait: wait for the patient to perceive the value that the analyst figure takes on for him and wait for the patient to achieve the ability to keep things together when he connects with his emotions and with people, moving away from his world of geometric figures. An important part of the supervision is the description of complex manipulation operated by the patient, who is in danger of confusing the analyst and effecting a breakdown in progress during treatment. Another aspect brought to light is the analyst’s need to stay awake and maintain faith, emerging from the angry and impotent child position, a position towards which the analyst is drawn by the omnipotence of the patient’s predictive identifications.
