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This beautiful clinical article of the analytic treatment of a 4-year old boy is offered as an illustration of the psychoanalytic term developmental object—its history and current meaning. As I began to compose my commentary, I was surprised at how difficult a task it was to discuss the case of a preschool child from the point of view of psychoanalytic developmental theory and technique: “Developmental Psychoanalysis and Developmental Objects.” For one thing, the developmental competencies of a child of this age would be expected to affect the child's capacity to self-regulate, respect limits, and distinguish between frightening fantasies and the real world. In addition, the preschool child's cognitive ability does not prepare him to apprehend the level of abstraction that characterizes many, if not most, interpretations. Finally, because of the continuing dependence of preschool children on caregiving adults, the relationship with a new adult will naturally generate expectancies of caregiving in the child (and in the adult). Therefore, I approach my discussion with trepidation, acknowledging that I am venturing into confusing and challenging theoretical territory in child analysis.
With these concerns in mind, I have decided to focus my comments on the significance of psychoanalytic concept of developmental help to ideas of therapeutic action. I ask the question: What in the analytic work helped the child, Aiden, move forward in his development? I agree with the author and with the numerous writers who elaborated Anna Freud's ideas, that her psychoanalytic theory of development, although an important step forward, had limitations that led to the need for “exceptions” to the standard technique of child analysis (Kennedy and Moran, 1984 Gavshon, 1987;Edgcumbe, 1993,2000; Miller, 1996,Hurry, 1998) I suggest that a theory of therapeutic action adequate to explain the significant gains made by the preschool child in this case study must move even further, to incorporate