Preface

We are very happy to have the opportunity to introduce Pierre and Claudine Geissmann’s History of Child Psychoanalysis to an English-speaking audience. This remarkable work is of the greatest importance because it is the first detailed study of the development of child psychoanalysis. It is quite surprising that there are so few studies of the way child analysis has developed, as the basic tenet of psychoanalysis is that our adult development has its foundations in the inner life of the child within us. In this excellent volume the authors follow the history of child analysis from its beginnings, starting with the analysis of Little Hans, through to its contemporary developments. The Geissmanns give the background against which these developments have occurred and need to be assessed, and explain in detail and in depth the differences in technique and theory between the pioneers and the different schools which have subsequently developed.

The authors emphasize the rich contributions that the psychoanalysis of children has brought to psychoanalytic theory and practice, in regard to work with adults as well as children. They study the various schools of thought in the child psychoanalytic world, and elicit the unique contribution of each. They discuss what these schools have in common, and in what ways they differ.

The major sponsors of this translation, in addition to the French Ministry of Culture, have been the Melanie Klein Trust and the Anna Freud Centre (formerly the Hampstead Clinic, founded by Anna Freud). This collaboration is in itself a tribute to the authors’ scientific objectivity and integrity.

Anne-Marie Sandler and Hanna Segal