A dream of the red shoes: separation conflict in the phallic-narcissistic phase

A case is described in which a patient's dream of red shoes stimulated associations to the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of The Red Shoes, and the movie of the same name. Analysis of the dream provided valuable insight into the structure and evolution of her neurotic conflicts. At the same time, the symbolic significance of The Red Shoes to this patient helped to clarify one of the meanings of the fairy tale. The interplay of these elements, dream and cultural daydream, within the context of the transference, focused on conflicts in the phallic-narcissistic phase of development, with particular emphasis on separation.