Aspects of the Metapsychology of Fantasy

A year or two ago a number of analysts and child psychotherapists working on the Hampstead Index were faced with the need to create a workable classification of observed clinical material relating to the superego concept as it was developed by Freud and in subsequent psychoanalytic writings. This led to a formulation of the superego (Sandler, 1960); (Sandler et al., 1962) which stressed, among other things, its function as a source of well-being and self-esteem, and its general role in the regulation of narcissistic supplies. On the basis of these formulations and their interaction with actual clinical observations recorded in the Index, it became clear that one of the main mechanisms used by certain children to deal with lowered narcissistic cathexis of the self was the creation of daydreams in which the child could restore his diminished self-esteem through the creation of ideal and satisfying situations in which he played a central