Psychoanalytic Approaches to the Treatment of Children and Adolescents Tradition and Transformation

In the nearly one hundred years that have elapsed since Freud’s publication of his pioneering work with “Little Hans,” psychoanalysis has transformed not only our clinical work with children, but has immeasurably enriched our understanding of normal child and adolescent development as well as developmental deviations and derailments. We have gradually come to understand childhood and adolescence as a complex tapestry of developmental themes, conflicts, and crises; sometimes discontinuous or discrete, at other times, harmonious and integrated, yet always occurring within a transactional matrix of environmental influences and internal experience.

In this transdisciplinary anthology, eight authors explore the changing terrain of child and adolescent psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapy. The contributions, which reflect theoretical and clinical heterogeneity, are both innovative and varied, and range from the highly abstract and theoretical to those that consider very specific dimensions of clinical process. Collectively, they make a compelling case for the continued relevance of psychoanalytic ideas in the treatment of children and adolescents. With insightful contributions by expert psychoanalysts, clinical social workers, and clinical psychologists, Psychoanalytic Approaches to the Treatment of Children and Adolescents: Tradition and Transformation is essential reading for child and adolescent therapists.

Psychoanalytic Approaches to the Treatment of Children and Adolescents will increase your knowledge of:

• the function of play in normal development--and within the treatment relationship
• psychoanalytic theories and research investigations linking early object loss to depression
• the nature of adolescent depression
• the theoretical and clinical dimensions of a two-systems approach to understanding psychopathology and the clinical process
• the dynamic meaning and clinical management of drug and alcohol abuse, promiscuity, eating disorders, violence, and other self-destructive behaviors
• the complexities of treating children with neuropsychological deficits