ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the evolution of the author's perception that his patient's move from passive acceptance to taking control of boundaries both of her body and its symbolic equivalents. Accepting responsibility for her states of mind were aspects of the patient's psychological functioning which had been badly disrupted in her history of early trauma and abuse. The acting out of the determining issues in and around the analytic frame can be seen to be crucial issues in her recovery. The chapter discusses a few key episodes in an analysis where author's flexibility was much valued by the patient, although she was also threatened by it. The chapter suggests that it is better initially to give the patient the benefit of the doubt that aggression is defensive. This is less likely to lead to an impasse over the patient's destructiveness and allows for something to be elaborated over time in which the gratifying aspects can be allocated their proper place.
