ABSTRACT
I n the human animal, pregnancy lasts forty weeks. This is, argu ably,a very long time, but it is so designed to protect and foster whatneeds to be a slow and delicate process. Similarly, the child’s process of separation from parental figures after birth needs to be a slow and gradual one. The need for this becomes apparent if we just think of the complexity of the neurological and emotional development that needs to take place within the facilitative environment represented by the relationship with our carers. Nowadays, the World Health Organization sets the age that marks adult autonomy at twenty-four.
