Ferenczi's interest in the mental life of children and its effects on the psychology of the adult can be traced back to his initial encounter with psychoanalysis in the first decade of the 20th century, and the development of his technical and theoretical formulations can be discerned in the context of 3 distinct transferential phases in his relationship with Freud. In the final phase, Ferenczi introduced modifications in his technique to accommodate patients whose symptoms could be traced to early developmental disturbances. S. Ferenczi's (1931/1955a) late paper, “Child Analysis in the Analysis of Adults,” attempts to address the technical difficulties encountered in treating these patients and sets the stage for the bitter dispute that sullied his personal relations with Freud.