Abstract

BARRETO, Aline Xavier  and  TOSTA, Rosa Maria. Where is the child?: A case of early maturation and false self. Bol. - Acad. Paul. Psicol. [online]. 2017, vol.37, n.93, pp.171-185. ISSN 1415-711X.

This paper describes and analyzes the case of a child taken as patient in a university clinic, sent there by the Guardianship Council due to parental mistreatment. From the clinical perspective and the Winnicottian theoretical foundations, it was possible to create hypotheses about early maturation and the consolidation of a false self that is submissive to the environment. The case can be thought of as one of the false self types, that was presented through the adoption of an adult posture, characterized as early maturation. The child's life story was filled with inconsistent care and frequent violence among family members around her. Faced with this intrusive environment, the child had to organize defensively to survive in the environment in which she was created. Throughout the psychotherapy sessions, the main contents brought by her were: sexuality, school and family. Through the grandmother's report, it was possible to know about suicidal ideas manifested by the child. The concepts focused in this paper are: the environment and maternal care, false self and early maturation, and the idea of suicide as a form of protection of the true self. As a clinical learning, the importance of welcoming the false self, consistency of the psychotherapist and respect for the patient's time are emphasized, so that it is possible for the patient to have spontaneous experiences and break the false self, which enables the presentation of the true self

Keywords : false self; true self; early maturation; clinical case; D. W. Winnicott.

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