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Based on two research projects in clinical psychopathology, the researchers suggest a dialiectisation of the issues at stake in the bonding process between mother and child at the time of an extremely premature delivery and over the following years, this being illustrated by two clinical vignettes. The first research project was conducted around analysis of the discourse and themes in interviews conducted with 15 primiparous women. The second applied a qualitative methodology to analyse four case studies of consultations within an outpatient centre for the treatment and rehabilitation of children with sensory, motor or mental deficits (camsp). These two research projects highlight the trauma affecting the bonding process, especially the difficulty in developing a “haloed perspective” with a containing function. They also give a clear picture of the functions of the different psychic envelopes elaborated by the various health professionals, considering the time-scale within which they take place and the intersubjective issues at stake.