Abstract: The author broadly shapes the setting where the observation of the baby takes place, namely in its family. This allows the author to examine the countertransferential elements noticed by the observer and the transferential elements noticed by the mother. This paper aims to follow the baby’s development in the first months of life and the nature of its identifying processes. Following a detailed study of the clinical material, the author launches the hypothesis regarding the early stages of the depressive position, which involves the fact that the positive evolution of the baby, his/her introjective capacities, result in the perception of a separation between him/her and his/her primary object. The enhancement of the ego’s capacities is intrinsically associated with the consciousness of losing the object and its capacities.


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