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From the follow-up clinical material in a medical-educational institution about an adolescent affected by autosomal trisomy and showing signs of autistic withdrawal, I propose to relate several psychotherapeutic sessions in order to trace the clinical elements that allowed Leo to gradually reconstruct his body image and his sense of existence, and to discover a sense of alterity. As such the naming of sensorial experiences during sessions was able to strengthen Leo’s consciousness of his own existence. Previously he would go into autistic withdrawals for his own survival, where the separation of his thoughts kept him from reconnecting with his physical experiences. His stages of destruction (self-abuse and violence) can be understood as attempts at differentiation (rather than as a refusal of relationships) at times when a recently recovered emotional intensity overwhelmed him and his stimulus barrier was still weak. Emotional intensity thus plunged him into uncontrollable anxiety over the solidity of his body, which could be assuaged by slowing down gestures and movements, and through therapeutic conversations. This expanded time favored the sensorial integration of his feelings until an image of his body could be constructed. Thus he could slowly experience relationships with others, at first by putting himself in others’ shoes with interchangeable identifications, and then by allowing himself to be aware of his own existence without isolating himself from others. Subsequently, he was able to relive, through the transference of childhood trauma, the experience of feeling monstrous and dangerous during his first year, as his parents coped with the shock of having and seeing their baby with a disability. Finally, at the end of the sessions he was able to let go of an unmanageable sense of responsibility to repair his parents’ narcissistic wounds so that he could rediscover his place among his peers and his trust in adults, to feel safe and begin steps toward further growth.