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The present article is based on the action research conducted by a psychologist practising in a nursery on the ability of the mother to be alone in her child’s presence. Correlating the notions of loneliness, shame and guilt with the processes of motherhood in a clinical situation in this place of refuge allows the traumatising situations experienced by a few vulnerable mothers to be analysed and their way to a new maternal identity facilitated. Investigating shame (usually considered only in relation to its negative side) from another angle, it can be seen to have a beneficial and saving function in helping the woman to recognise herself as a mother and empowered as such. The “maternal ego” transformed can then integrate solitude as an instance of reconstruction and subjectivation.