Many people come to analysis appearing quite ordinary on the surface. However, once below that surface, we often come into contact with something quite unexpected: extra-ordinary protections, created to keep at bay any awareness of deeply traumatic happenings occurring at some point in life. Judith Mitrani investigates the development and the function of these protections. She weaves detailed clinical observations with a variety of analytical concepts, and her original notions provide tools for understanding the infantile transference/countertransference and for the refinement of our...