ABSTRACT
I shall present two sessions in the course of the treatment of a child of age 4 years and 8 months. The paediatrician referred him as an urgent case because he had gone mute, as well as very quiet and serious, since October when he first started school. Two months prior to this, the mother had had a baby, at which time she was diagnosed as suffering from a kidney disorder and was sent to hospital. The baby had to be kept in an incubator since it was premature; the mother was admitted to a different hospital from that of the baby.
