ABSTRACT
Winnicott’s “mother-infant unit” may be seen as another kind of prototype for therapy, but a different kind from the holding environment. In the mother-infant unit, the infant learns about itself and others by the use of the mother as a surrogate ego or, more specifically, through the fantasy that its own ego and its mother’s ego are fused. The fantasy of fused egos also becomes a part of the psychotherapy relationship and allows for the repair of early ego damage.
