This paper describes the psychological assessment and the subsequent psychoanalysis of a five-year-old boy who presented with psychosomatic troubles among which the most prevalent were asthma attacks. The treatment lasted two years. The author examines the complex analytical process as it unfolded during the treatment. By way of clinical illustrations taken from the sessions, the author shows how different psychic aspects in the patient developed (object relations, ego functions and his progress through different psychosexual stages). She also shows the importance of play as a framework in which new experiences can emerge and evolve.