ABSTRACT
Douglas is ten years old when he returns from his summer vacation and is ready to start his fourth year in therapy. He is upset when he sees that some things at the institute have been changed and modernized. The waiting room has been redecorated and he finds it ugly. A newly employed girl in reception "asks strange questions" and the author's new hairstyle is the worst thing he has seen. He is outraged because he has missed everything during the summer; therapy, and the institute. The only way he can handle this is to be angry. For Douglas, our meetings have grown into something stimulating but also stressful. This is the first time he shows that a break from therapy has made him feel bad. His comments about war movies indicate that he has linked the break with fantasies about death. Like many adopted children, Douglas has a hard time coping with separations.
