ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a self-psychologically oriented treatment of a 14-year-old male patient with anorexia nervosa (AN), depression and suicidal thoughts. The therapy unfolded the patient's struggle to "live his own life" and to resist serving as a selfobject to his parents. Highlighting Kohut's concept of twinship selfobject transference, the chapter illustrates the patient's gradual process of relating to human beings for providing selfobject needs, and the respective development of a healthier and more cohesive self. Along this process, letting himself rely on a dog was an intermediate phase of the patient's developing ability to refer to human beings to provide selfobject needs.
