ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a self psychologically oriented treatment of a 19-year old female patient, involuntarily hospitalized with anorexia nervosa (AN). The case illustrates the concept of "virtual self" discussed by Kohut and Kulka, referring to the pre-birth stage in which the child exists only as a potential concept in the mother's or parents' mind. Respectively, when the therapist holds the patient's potential existence in mind, a room is created for the patient to believe in her own existence. The patient in this case beautifully captured this process by saying "when someone believes in me I can start believe in myself."
