ABSTRACT
The concept of the basic fault was elaborated by Michael Balint (1896–1970), a psychoanalyst of Hungarian origin who practised primarily in England, where he belonged, with D. W. Winnicott, to the Independent or Middle Group arising from the split in the British Psychoanalytic Society, following the divergences of opinion between Anna Freud and Melanie Klein. Balint rejects the Freudian notion of primary narcissism, recognising only primary love; for him, narcissism is always secondary, a withdrawal into the self, following a disappointment in relation to the object. The analyst "contented" herself with listening to her, accompanying her psychic movements, providing her with the favourable environment that she needed in order, as Balint would say, to be in contact with herself, to find herself, to rediscover herself, which seemed to make her "content" too. The analyst's sense of helplessness was also attenuated and she felt less tense and anxious.
