ABSTRACT
Mark was an eight-year-old boy who had been referred to me by a colleague. Some six months earlier, Mark’s father had lost his temper and had beaten him uncontrollably, to the point where the child needed hospital attention and the father was placed on probation. Prior to the session recorded here, I had obtained as much background information as possible, to give me an understanding of Mark’s whole social setting, and I’d spent time with his father, attempting to absorb the extent of his very real remorse regarding the incident. We agreed on the way he should tell Mark why he wanted him to meet me. I then spent time reflecting on all I had learned, making some tentative hypotheses as to what kind of inner world this child might be in the process of constructing, and what expectations or apprehensions might be filling his mind as he came to our meeting. Before opening the door to them, I put myself in touch with the child within me. I was ready for our first time together. I expected we would play, and I would give Mark as much freedom to play as he willed. In this way, we would both spend some undemanding time getting to know each other and I would obtain valuable clues as to the landscape of his inner world. All this followed the usual pattern of my work with a new child. And all went as imagined until Mark found the panther. Immediately, he and I were in unmapped territory.
