ABSTRACT
Mary, mother of two boys aged 4 and 6 years, described how desperate she would feel. She lived in a one-bedroomed flat, four floors up in a tower block. The boys, both lively and active, were up to mischief all day long. They climbed on the furniture, threw toys around, never did as they were told, and Mary felt that she was screaming at them all day to be quiet and leave her alone. She acknowledged that she had a bad temper but recently she had felt so angry that she had hit the younger child repeatedly around the head and shoulders, bruising him. She had felt herself wanting to hit harder and harder venting all of her pent-up anger against him. Finally she had collapsed on the floor sobbing and at that point realized that she needed help. She asked for her boys to be taken into care because she was terrified that she would do it again. She was referred for therapy and management help and within four months had improved dramatically in her relationship with her sons.
