ABSTRACT
Richard, a fifty-year-old architect, approaches psychiatrist for help because his wife has “inexplicably” left him after years of marriage. The marriage was largely loveless and he has always had affairs, but this new development has knocked him sideways. Richard is suave and self-possessed. He talks of his success as an architect, his energy, his capacity for hard work. He is genuinely committed and helpful, selflessly supporting various social institutions. Psychiatrist elaborate the following explanations for his conflicts: due to depression and the consequences of a stroke, his mother was unable to lavish much affection on him. This defect is like a wound that he used his talents to compensate for. After twenty-five sessions, the acute crisis is over. Richard decides to continue with the therapy in the form of psychoanalytic treatment. In an interim summing-up, he says he feels he has started getting back on top of his life.
