The author presents a beginning statement toward a multidimensional model of therapeutic action in psychoanalytically informed child therapy. This model highlights the central role of affect in clinical work with children. Two broad principles of therapeutic change are proposed: (a) the enhancement of the child's positive affects and his or her expectation of affirming responsiveness and (b) the development of increased tolerance for painful and distressing affects. Each principle offers a means of engagement of children in the therapeutic process and an experience-near understanding of the clinical efficacy of child therapy as well as a rationale for therapeutic interventions with families. Together, these modes of affective engagement promote increased resilience in the child when faced with emotional distress and help arrest malignant intrapsychic and interpersonal development.