ABSTRACT
In the analysis of women by women analysts, one may be confronted by a melancholic core in the relationship to an internal maternal imago. The attachment to this primary love object may be preserved in a melancholic, invisible way and reach representation only in the après-coup of the analytic process. It is my suggestion that attacks on the body that take place in the course of such an analysis are expressions of the attacks on this primary object at the same time as this object is preserved in oneself.
