« If this man had a mother who, despite his poverty, was able and able to give him, in this first and so decisive year of life, true love, protection and a sense of security, he was better equipped to overcome the subsequent ill-treatment than someone whose integrity was hurt from birth, who had no right to have his own life , who, from the outset, had to learn that his existence had only the meaning of "making his mother happy". »

« Adjustment to parental needs often (but not always) leads to the development of a "personality-as-if" or what is often called false-self. The child behaves in a way that does not only mount what is expected of him, and he completely identifies with that appearance. His true Self cannot develop and differentiate because it cannot be lived. It is not surprising that these patients complain of a sense of emptiness, say that their existence seems meaningless to them, that they do not feel at home anywhere. This void is real. »

« ... these children will not only become the mother's mother (playing the role of confidant, comforter, counselor, support) of their mother, but also take care of their brothers and sisters, and they ultimately develop a very particular sensitivity to the unconscious signals of the needs of others. No wonder that, later on, they often choose the profession of psychotherapist. Who, then, if he did not have such a background, would find the task interesting enough to spend his days trying to discover what is happening in the unconscious of others? »