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In 1967, Geleerd edited The Child Analyst at Work, which presented a detailed picture of the analytic treatment of children of different ages and pathology by well-known child analysts. This was a crucial contribution since many openly doubted whether child analysis was indeed analysis and whether treatment was at all effective. Schmukler's 1991 volume, with an altogether different goal, nevertheless presents another detailed and focused picture of child analysis. It is a credit to all analysts that, in the ensuing years, the issues have changed.
The editor's preface provides a valuable integration of extensive case reports, giving a brief abstract of each with cross-referencing to other chapters where similar issues are discussed, albeit differently. A discussion of termination cannot proceed intelligently unless presenting complaints, family background, and the course of the analysis is known. Nor can the decisions and interactions involved in a termination process be understood unless the reader has some knowledge of the preceding analysis. As a result, the 'casebook' supplies a detailed and concise picture of an analysis of a child. Unfortunately, there are still many analysts who are more than sceptical that an analytic process can take place in children. While it should not be necessary, I believe that the contributors' efforts furnish an additional documentation of the validity and efficacy of child analysis. This is probably an unintended bonus since the emphasis is solely on termination.
Each author discusses the pertinent literature at the beginning of the case report and again in the concluding discussion. Although clinical material and case reports are emphasised, theory is well represented and integrated into the specific topic. Sugarman reports on the three-year analysis of a girl of 3½ years of age with marked separation problems, masochistic provocative behaviour and tantrums. The decision to terminate seemed reasonable. Despite the analys