As therapeutic systems proliferate and neurobiological conceptions of psychopathology increasingly dominate the field, the authors of this impressive text maintain the position that a psychoanalytic (they prefer to say “psychodynamic”) approach to the understanding of human growth and development remains invaluable. In a sense, the subtitle of the volume is somewhat deceptive: the book is not merely a primer, but a richly detailed, scholarly, comprehensive, and balanced study, structured along classical lines but incorporating current theoretical and clinical contributions from other sources.

The authors, leaders of the child analysis program of Columbia University Psychoanalytic Center, have enriched the volume both with clinical vignettes and with video illustrations that help the child of a particular phase “come alive” to the reader. (Note: Some years ago, I led a clinical seminar in the treatment of adolescents in their program.)