The article underlines the difficulty, sometimes the impossibility, of the patient with a physical handicap to elaborate the narcissistic mourning. Body damage can overwhelm the analytic scene, forcing the analyst, in his/her countertransference, to keep active "mind and body together". Attention focusses on the analytical relationship, with all its possible facets, especially on the Shadow dimension.
Keywords: Disability, handicap, analysis, mind-body, Shadow, narcisistic mourning