You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
I would like to thank Mrs. Hopkins for her extremely interesting paper. It was an especially appropriate one for the opening of our study weekend, because of the bridges it builds between the various theoretical points of view represented among us. I was particularly glad to see the use made of Marion Milner's thinking — her contribution being one we often neglect.
Clinically Mrs. Hopkins has given us a sensitive exposition of the impact upon a child of medical procedures, not only detailing the particular meanings which accrued to such experiences in this case, but also indicating the way in which interferences in the realms of narcissism and masochism may arise. She has shared with us a child's experience of gradually becoming safe enough with her to allow himself to become absorbed in transitional play, to take delight in it, and even to begin to accept disillusionment. I found this paper a fruitful and stimulating one, and there are many things we could discuss. I have restricted myself to four points.
Firstly, we should take note of the fact that this boy was not in full psychoanalysis, or even twice weekly treatment, but was seen only once a week. While I am sure Mrs. Hopkins must often have wished she could see him more often, and Adam himself made his wish clear in the fourth session, there is no doubt that the technique throughout was strictly psychoanalytic, that a transference was maintained from week to week, and that in only sixty-six sessions important changes took place in this child's inner world and in his behaviour. We often underestimate the work which can be done in once weekly sessions: both this paper and Miss Radford's study of once weekly treatment with an elective mute (Radford 1977), provide valuable evidence as to what can be achieved.
Secondly, I have some questions about the nature of Adam's relationship with his sister. I fully agree with Mrs. Hopkins that Adam used his sister as a vehicle for the externalisation of the unacceptable aspect