ABSTRACT
An interesting phenomenon has often been observed in the practice of relaxation therapy. A patient arrives early and, finding themselves alone in the room, starts the first exercise. Quickly and pleasantly, they begin to feel warm all over their body. The therapist eventually arrives, and at once the patient stops feeling warm. The patient tells this to the therapist, who also happens to be a psychoanalyst, and the latter tries in vain, through dialogue, to elucidate and eliminate the cause of this loss of warmth. The psychotherapist then decides to remain silent and relax as well, leaving the patient to experience what Winnicott (1958) calls being alone in the presence of someone who respects one’s solitude while protecting it by their proximity. Little by little, the patient then recovers that total sensation of warmth.
