ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the stage of relative dependence, where this boundary from the last stage is strengthened, and how the third area or space between the nursing couple is established. It looks at the concepts relating to transitional phenomena by which the baby emerges from unity with the mother and manages the interaction of his inner and outer reality. The baby’s maturational changes integrate his idea of the mother, making him aware of his indebtedness, and allowing the development of the transitional space, the “distance between” in which experience builds and the nature of the other is appreciated. The chapter looks at this stage in the analytic space and at the evidence for transitional phenomena before exploring the implications of deficits in environmental provision at this stage, first for the patient’s growth, and then for the analyst’s function. In the baby’s physiological development, sight is as important as the proprioceptive and tactile sensations in the previous stage.
