ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the experiences that may be associated with realizing that the self and object do indeed have their respective skins—that the mother's skin marks the boundary of her own separate body. An observation of baby Rachel—the little girl with the milk-bottle tops—at the age of 3 months may serve to illustrate this experience of being intruded into, followed by what looked like an attack on the mother's skin boundary, which in turn led to problems with the baby's own skin. The chapter discusses some skin-related aspects of the therapy of a little girl between the ages of 3½ years and 5 years. Clara's therapy made it possible to explore aspects of her catastrophic anxieties and to apprehend something of the issues concerning extreme vulnerability and life-or-death rivalries that played a part in her fundamentally loving relationship with her mother.
