ABSTRACT

Symbolisation is a crucial mechanism that brings about mental growth, and consists, in general terms, in the aptitude to replace concrete thinking with abstract mental representations, something that takes place normally in the formation of language. Things or inanimate objects have worth according to their extrinsic value: a chair, for instance, will be preserved depending on its price or on the particular affects that have been projected onto it, and usually a chair that is broken and worthless will not be kept; however, a sensible person will not usually throw away his or her grandmother because she is old and useless. The “basic delusion” represents a fantasy, a belief that the mother requires the child in order to survive, but in reality this feeling is not real. This concept is important because later on, when she acts out her own needs or pre-conceptual traumas, she will repeat exactly the same feelings she experienced as a child.