Italian psychiatrist Barbara Piovano proposes a model for the parallel treatment of severely disturbed children and their mothers that preserves her commitment to the classic dyad while creating a forum to expose the interactive aspects of the parent-child relationship for exploration and intervention. Dr. Piovano's method mandates adjacent therapy by separate practitioners with a common supervisor who is poised at the intersection of complex transference and relational dynamics. Case material, deriving from both private and institutional clinical settings, demonstrates application of the parallel treatment approach and its revelations: of the influence on the child of the prevailing relational context, the influence on the parent of the pathology of the child, and the extent of collusion between them. This is a persuasive, attractive, and infectious synthesis of intellectual and clinical passion.