100

The newborn’s extreme receptivity to affects and to maternal unconscious messages makes him particularly vulnerable when, because of his mother’s psychological disorder, he is caught within extremely morbid projections. By observing, according to Esther Bick’s methodology, the newborn in a mother and baby unit, the author demonstrates how much the infant, risking his life, can physically identify to the maternal fantasies. The caregivers’ containing function, empathy and imaginary scenario can lead to a beneficial disengagement.