Half a century ago it seemed as though the approach to successful child analysis was obstructed by a series of difficulties, all of which arose from the discrepancy between the therapeutic situation and the model of classical adult analysis. The ongoing development of psychoanalytic theory has served as a pacemaker in the successive mastery of these difficulties and in the exploration of technical modifications. The author demonstrates the significance of the viewpoint of phase specificity and of Kohut's theory of narcissism for contemporary technique by means of two case illustrations concerning adolescents.