The old lady, the child and the bird

Because therapy with a child subject to abandonment anxiety was interrupted too soon, the therapist was compelled to write a story, to mull over all that was created in the field of transference. Initially unstable, the little girl engaged in a jumble of activities. Then, she gradually began to recite poems, paint pictures, and act out scenarios in which she could express what she felt. The therapist welcomed her, gave her a framework, and opened a new relational and symbolic space for her. She imagines the bird that appears in Prévert’s poem, recited by the little girl, is her inner double, helping her create a new life and emerge into it. The tale reflects the shared creativity that bubbled up in the course of the encounter.