Luca’s family history is characterized by the conflict between his parents and by Luca playing his father’s role at his mother’s side for several years. When Luca’s youngest sister has a severe psychotic crisis the whole family shatters; Luca is left alone in the family house. Ten years later Luca seeks for analytic help, as he feels overwhelmed by tension and confusion when interacting with others. Eight months after the beginning of the therapy, Luca starts working abroad and from that moment on the therapy involves an alternation of vis-à-vis sessions and sessions via Skype. The case is characterized by the twine among Luca’s early experiences, his partially alexithymic functioning, and the distance-closeness dynamic of the analytic setting.
Keywords: Alexithymia; Early Experiences; Parentification; Therapeutic Alliance; Setting; Online Therapy.