ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses case study of Bruce who is a a well-endowed child coping with a considerably difficult mother-child relationship. From birth on, mother imparted to the young infant her anxiety about his intactness. Bruce's case represents an example of a remarkably successful individuation against considerable odds. Bruce was a very tense, hypertonic, and restless baby who had difficulty molding. He cried himself into quite severe "tantrums" with which his mother had difficulty dealing. Bruce developed an early social smile which, by 5 months of age, grew into a specific preferential smiling response for his mother. Bruce had been described as a very restless baby, sucking on the pacifier with great intensity, but by 5 months of age his motor activity became gradually more goal-directed and less in the service of discharge of internal discomfort. During the early practicing period, Bruce took great delight in his explorations.
