IN THE COURSE OF THERAPEUTIC WORK, THE CHILD'S RELATIONship with the analyst is often a complicated mixture of elements of a real relationship, an extension into the analysis of current relationships, and a repetition or even a revival of the past. The natural unfolding of the child's personality further complicates the relationship, and it often becomes difficult to determine whether the child is using the analyst in the expression of a new developmental step or whether he has cast the analyst in a particular role in order to express neurotic conflicts from the past.