ABSTRACT
The parent– infant space is complex. To walk into it is to walk into known and unknown risks. It is a seemingly endless walk in a seemingly never-ending maze of rooms and corridors, where the walls, ceilings, and floors can move and what is done in one part of the maze seems to affect what difficulties are encountered in other parts. Psychoanalytic theory refers to this triangular dynamic as the Oedipus complex and considers it to be the central conflict of impulses, phantasies, and defences in the human psyche. Relationships with the two parents promote the growth of emotions and feelings early on, helping the process of consciousness through containment, shared experience, understanding, and verbalization. The classic, healthy primary relationship is baby– mother– father. Role substitutes can safely take the place of the biological mother or father— for example it may be that the father role is assumed by the mother's partner.
