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This book makes a much-needed contribution to the literature on child analysis. It will inspire and stimulate the work of both the beginner and the most seasoned analyst. In this
volume, Tyson presents rare and lively accounts of pre-latency analyses and discussions of this unique work by the most experienced child analysts. The analysts who present their work, primarily in an ego-psychology tradition, do so with warmth and candor, and the discussants add a thoughtful and elucidating perspective on this analytic work with very young children, who have often been thought unable to engage in a meaningful analytic process. I regret that I could not give due acknowledgement to all the analysts whose contributions make this book such a rich resource.
The children presented here range in age from 2 years 9 months to 4 years 6 months at the time of referral. Several had experienced physical and medical traumas, such as a congenital urinary tract defect, an organically based eye defect, or were members of families in which incidences of sudden infant death syndrome had occurred. One child's mother became very ill early in the child's infancy and died soon thereafter. Two little encopretic girls are presented—a rarity in the analytic literature. Several other children suffer fears that have significantly derailed their development.
These analysts show us the ways in which the analysis of the young child is both similar to adult analysis and unique. We see in these cases the young child's capacity to form an active treatment alliance, although he or she does not seek treatment voluntarily and is often not aware of inner distress. The children make conscious use of their play and their relationships with their analysts to understand their worries, and we see them engage with their analysts to observe the workings of their own minds. Galatzer Levy's 31/2-year-old patient who was terrified of his own mind observed how difficult it was to talk about his fantasies—he ‘sometimes wi