in an unhealthy way by confirming Mr. Z's superiority over his father provided he remained an appendage of her- this led to his grandiose attitude as well. He regarded his mother as infallible and felt inflated by identification with her (McWilliams, 1994, p. 174). In addition, the emotional support that she provided him was purely conditional. "The mother's emotional gifts were bestowed on him under the unalterable and uncompromising condition that he submit to total domination by her." (Kohut, 1979, p.13) He could neither assert his independence nor engage in meaningful outside relationships for fear of losing her recognition and love.She was not interested in him. Only his feces and her inspection of them, only his bowel functions and her control over them fascinated her- with an intensity, a self-righteous certainty, and adamant commitment that allowed no protest and created almost total submission (Kohut, 1979, p. 15).Mr. Z had not elaborated on specific experiences with his mother and described her precisely as the image that she portrayed to others (Kohut, 1979, p. 13). The absence of this pertinent information surely explained the analyst's lack of emphasis upon her personality disorder; however, the second analysis revealed the alarming details of their relationship. Suddenly the pervasive existence of the dominating mother became apparent as a detrimental factor central to the cause of Mr. Z's disturbance. Now the analyst found it imperative to focus upon the depression and hopelessness that the mother's attitude evoked in him. This was a key element in his recovery for the therapy in the second analysis addressed the deep-seeded essence of his symptoms.Mr. Z had no center of initiative. His masturbation was neither a symptom of his pre-oedipal phase nor a result of drive motivation in a search for primal pleasure, but instead served as his only means of asserting his existence. In addition, it was unempathically overs...
