4

Following in the footsteps of Esther Bick, the author of this paper conducted a longitudinal study on a newborn and his blind mother, which revealed various aspects of the intersubjective newborn/mother relationship in cases where the mother is disabled. This paper also proposes a few metapsychological considerations about such situations. Baby’s need for attachment and the “bilingual relationship” needed for their fulfillment create a unique psychic construction in them, which, very early, attempts to compensate for the “deficiency” of the mother. This paper argues that the child’s inclination to sublimate his/her behavior may be a solution to a loyalty conflict that divides the child between his/her blind mother and the world of the sighted and which, if encysted, could prevent future investments.