From "Dry Birth" and Mutism to Symbolic Birth and Thinking: The Many Dimensions of a Child Case

Abstract

This article is about a 5-year-old boy who began therapy with symptoms of separation anxiety, enuresis, and selective mutism and through the impact of the co-transference slowly developed into a 9-year-old who could concentrate, regulate his emotions, and was developing a capacity of think. The initial birth trauma, resulting in a dry birth seemed to be the root of his symptoms. From the first session to the last, he implicitly and explicitly reenacted his trauma emanating from his engagement with the therapist through all the means that were available to him. By the end of therapy, he not only had developed into a 9-year-old latency age boy who was socially and academically successful but also was able to think and to speak coherently. His internalized capacity to regulate his affect and his external agency were substantially developed and clearly demonstrated.