ABSTRACT
An adolescent girl sent to Winnicott for an assessment constantly touched her face and hid her chin with her hand. Recounting the session some thirty years later she recalled only one remark of Winnicott’s. He asked her, ‘Is your face lonely?’ (personal communication). The question immediately establishes the body as an expression of intrapsychic and interpersonal meanings. My aim with this chapter is to pursue a relational approach to Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD): a psychiatric term for the condition of body image disparagement, involving preoccupation with a perceived defect in appearance. If a slight anomaly is present, the person’s concern is excessive.
