The purpose of this study is to describe and discuss the therapeutic relationship between a child diagnosed with infantile autism and the psychotherapist. This is a case study that used the clinical-qualitative method and supported from psychodynamically-oriented authors and texts. The clinical material obtained from the eight year-old child's life history and the weekly play therapy conducted over a period of 16 months was discussed and analyzed. An analysis was performed about the therapeutic setting, the "I/not I" discrimination process, the identity construction process, the patient-therapist relationship, and the function of maternal holding. The fact that a child with autism could establish and develop a relationship with the psychotherapist was fundamental to psychotherapy and psychological development.
autistic children; child psychotherapy; psychodynamic psychotherapy
