The Analysis of a Phobic Child: Some Problems of Theory and Technique in Child Analysis

Abstract

This paper attempts to clarify some theoretical and technical aspects of child analysis by correlating the course of treatment, the structure of the neurosis, and the technique employed in the case of a phobic boy who was in analysis over a period of three years. The case was chosen for presentation: (1) because of the discrepancy between the clinical simplicity of the symptom and the complicated ego structure behind it; (2) because of the unusual clearness with which the patient brought to the fore the variegated patterns of his libidinal demands; (3) because of the patient's attempts at transitory solutions, oscillations between perversions and symptoms, and processes of new symptom formation; (4) because the vicissitudes and stabilization of character traits could be clearly traced; (5) and finally, because of the rare opportunity to witness during treatment the change from grappling with reality by means of pathological mechanisms, to dealing with reality in a relatively conflict-free fashion.