ABSTRACT
The treatment process with Rafaela was characterized by dark tones of despair, the therapeutic work with Daniel was often set at a high pitch of hilarity. As a child he had already learned to rely solely on himself. From the traumatizing school experience of rejection and exclusion, which left him feeling annihilated, the shadow man was crystallized as the lone fighter, who, by keeping a low profile and relying on no-one, would achieve his aims. Adam-Lauterbach describes how the middle position of children can lead to a feeling of exclusion. In the first year of treatment Daniel was involved with a woman, Katja, who was on the rebound from a disastrous relationship. Following the confrontational sessions which established a new level of contact between us, Daniel cried for the first time during his analysis. The survival tactic that follows from this organizing principle is the necessity of getting away from the reality of never arriving.
