ABSTRACT
In psychoanalytic literature the 'Father' is often equated with the notion of the 'third', the 'other', one of whose contributions to the Mother-infant dyad is to open up a psychic space, with triangulating coordinates. The referral came when these issues became hot, focused as they were on separation, differentiation, individuation, and in this case, challenging the Mother's fundamental anxieties. The task of parent-infant psychotherapy then was even more complicated as there was no present Father who could materially offer a relationship to this little boy. The triangulating function in the child's mind this paternal presence suggests, is the location of imagination, thought, the capacity for symbolisation. Natalie removed him repeatedly from places she regarded as dangerous, such as near the low table that was an ideal climbing place. The referral came when these issues became hot, focused as they were on separation, differentiation, individuation, and in this case, challenging the Mother's fundamental anxieties.
