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I saw Frances for five sessions, on a once weekly basis, when she was ten years old. I would like to focus on what occurred in those sessions, and to try to define some of the themes that appeared and the processes that I think occurred, in the light of it having been established that there would be a small number of interviews.
Frances’ parents had been attending the clinic regularly for over two years, in conjunction with the once weekly treatment of their elder daughter, Claire. (Frances also has a younger sister and brother.) Until this time the parents had not given their social worker any reason to believe that Frances’ development was causing any concern. Then, her mother mentioned that she had noticed that recently Frances was not sleeping, that she would hide under the bedclothes, that she needed the light on at night, and she was talking about a fear of ghosts. When the social worker suggested that Frances could come to someone at the clinic to talk about this her parents readily accepted this. I think that, for these parents, this ready acceptance was indicative of their trust in the social worker, in the clinic, and their belief that it is helpful to talk about things.
They stipulated that they only wanted Frances to come for a short period. Perhaps this was partly because it may have been too much to consider having two children in need of long-term help. Also, until this time it was probable that Frances had not indicated a need for help; in fact, as I hope to illustrate, it was probably clear to the parents that the occurrence of this fear of ghosts was something new in a child whose development was otherwise going well.
When I agreed to see Frances I did not know if her coming would be of any help, and, furthermore, if it was to be of any help, I did not know if seeing her for a few times would be sufficient. Two factors did seem to suggest that what I was offering might be helpful. One was that Frances herself had drawn her parents’ attention to her re