ATTITUDETOWARDSTIME
Aperson'sattitudetowardtimecanbeequatedwithhisattitudetowardauthorityfigures.Iftheinfanthasexperiencedarbitraryandexcessivelycriticalauthorityfigures,adismissiveattitudetowardtimemayresult.Theneurotic'sneedto"killtime"isanexpressionofaggressionagainsttheparent(DuBois,1954).Individualpatients,oreventhetherapygroup-as-a-whole,whousetheso-called"narrativedefence",arekillingtherapeutictime.
Weknowhowdifficultitisforsomepatientstokeeptothetherapeutictimeboundaries,howtheyloathethemasanexpressionofthetherapist'sclinicalcoldnessandindifference.Forthem,thetimeboundariessymbolisethemother'srigidandunreasonablerefusaltofeedondemand.Ifthetherapyprogresseswell,thesametimeboundarieswillbeperceivedforwhattheyaremeanttobe:theinvisiblewallsofasafespaceinwhichtheindividualorthegroupcanholdtogetherandbeheldtogetherinordertodevelop.