Simultaneous Analysis of Child and Parent by the Same Analyst

The procedure of simultaneous analysis, which has been used for some time, has often been utilized by analysts who have been interested in seeing children and their parents. The focus has aimed at an understanding of the dynamic interplay between a mother and her child. Although articles can be found in the literature describing simultaneous analytic attempts from time to time, there have been few detailed accounts of the actual technique, problems, and reflections of the technique.

Several years ago it became clear to me that Mrs. A. needed treatment. She could only do so, initially, as the mother of a child I was seeing and not for herself. I undertook her analysis under these conditions hoping to be able to move it to an analysis focused on herself. This experience allowed me the opportunity to ponder the complexities of this technique. Some considerations of adult and child analysis arose with this parameter which are reviewed here.

Freud, in his technical writings, advocated little or no contact with parents or relatives of adult analytic patients. He did this in order not to contaminate the transference, and because of his pessimism concerning the analyst's ability to have beneficial effect on the parents. As is well known, in Freud's consultation with Hans's father (1909) he attempted to analyze the boy via his father. But, in the discussions of that case, it is rarely pointed out that Freud had treated Hans's mother and its possible significance. We do not know how Freud used the information that he had, or how it may