This study is part of a series of research works, which indicate that meaningful, solid and lasting clinical changes can be obtained when the patient can benefit from an emotional experience of sustainment. The study sets the aim of contributing with a deeper and more detailed understanding of this delicate sort of therapeutic action, by approaching it in the light of two phenomena: the whole experience and the offer of time. In methodological terms, the research is structured on a case study, which is presented in the form of a transferential narrative and reconsidered in the context of a dialogue with D. W. Winnicott's thought. This investigative procedure allows for the conclusion that this type of clinical work is not based on the therapist's technical mastering, but in the cultivation of an existential positioning of recognition of the other person's needs, in other words, under an ethical register.
psychoanalysis; psychotherapy; D. W. Winnicott; intervention; holding