Discussion of the Case of Bento

Before discussing the clinical material, I will start with a brief description of how I approached Mrs. Carneiro's report of her heroic, lengthy treatment with Bento, who she has helped a great deal. Over the years of analysis we see how he has changed from an angry, action oriented boy of 6 to someone who can talk about his frustrations, and integrate ambivalent feelings by age 9.

In discussing the clinical material of another analyst one can only talk about a virtual picture of an analysis, since the discussant is only talking about fragments of what has happened. Thus there is much that goes on in a long analysis that isn't reported that can have a profound effect.1 Bento was playing with a Lego mummy with treasure under a pyramid. He recalled, “Remember what you told me? You said that the treasure underneath the pyramid is something like things hidden in my head, what you and I are finding out.” This metaphorically rich representation, which seems to have had a big impression on Bento, is the type of statement we hear little about in the analysis, but I imagine was an important part of what helped him. In fact in this same session Bento is able to forgive his mother (mummy) for bringing him late to a session, something that would have enraged him at an earlier time. However, I can only comment on the main way the clinical material is reported by Mrs. Carneiro, which represents a different position than other child analysts, and also my own view. I offer my perspective as a way for the reader to reflect upon our different approaches.

Finally, I would like to say a few general words on the relationship of adult and child analysis. Many have said that child analysis is similar to adult analysis in that the child's play is like an adult's free association. I would agree with this as long as we describe what kind of play we are talking about. A child playing with puppets can elaborate a complex fantasy in play. For example, a child that I once helped in negotiating her