83

The purpose of the research presented in this article is to analyse situations of failure or impasse in educational and mental health care institutions with children in child welfare services showing severe attachment disorders. The method used is based on the qualitative analysis of clinical observations, carried out in the context of individual and institutional mental health care. Based on a psychodynamic approach with reference to psychoanalytic metapsychology, the article identifies some of the intersubjective sources of these failures, highlighting the logics specific to the transference-countertransference relationship that emerges between these children, professionals and the group-institution. It shows how the individual and group elaboration of the phantasy elements of children and professionals can prepare for resumption of care.