ABSTRACT
The relationship is a tenuous thing which takes careful nurturing. It is the foundation of the therapeutic process and can, in itself, be powerfully therapeutic. This chapter addresses the issue that in the therapeutic process is that of contact. Good contact involves the ability to withdraw appropriately rather than to become rigidified in a supposedly contactful space. Children evidence a variety of behavioural manifestations, often called resistances, as their way of attempting to cope and survive and make contact with the world as best as they can. When the senses and the body are restricted, emotional expression and a strong sense of self will be negligible. Young children naturally have a flair for playfulness and imagination and love to laugh at funny things. Children developmentally, in their egocentricity, blame themselves for the traumas that occur in their lives.
