Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 3-4.djvu/47

 ON THE TECHNIQUE OF CHILD -ANALYSIS 301

ship: on the other hand, as soon as stronger resistance sets in, he is at once ready (owing to his eariier repressions) to beUttle the analyst because he has talked on tabooed matters. So strong with the child is the parental authority and the first educational influence, that he expects the same claims to be made upon him- self, and the same outlook in life, from every grown-up who is interested in him. To him the analyst embodies, but in much stronger form than to the adult, the father- or moher-imag-o. On that account it takes a long time before he can feel convinced that the analyst does not take the parent's part, and that he can expect from the analyst full freedom and complete understanding for all his utterances. The child's over-estimation of authority in both positive and negative sense, makes the analysis difficult, for the patient watches with a keen eye for any defect in the ana- lyst which will give him an excuse for gainsaying his belief in authority. And the young person, especially the child, thinks he finds this wished-for defect in the analyst's frank talk about sexual problems, and therefore in this phase of the treatment the ambi- valency of the patient towards his guide and adviser is most apparent. The notable difference between his parents as they are in reality and their image in his phantasy re-awakens once more in its original intensity the very earliest child-wish, namely, that his little heart should once more be able to confide in his father and mother and with this all the old feelings of early disappoint- ment are revived. Owing to this unavoidable conflict which has its foundation in the childish memories of the young soul, and in its attitude to the analyst, arise the fundamental demands made upon the latter by the patient. The chief thing in the analysis of children and young people is the analyst's power of intuition in regard to the sufferer. It does not matter so much whether many complexes are made conscious to the young patient, or how much 'insight' he gains, the reaction is sufficient at the beginning. Often, much later, some chance word from the child shows that he has preserved and appreciated at its true value the explanation which he had at an earlier stage. But this acceptance does not take place by means of conscious work: a great part of the psycho-analytic process in the child takes place in his unconscious, and contrary to the case of the grown-up, it remains permanently there, and only a change in his behaviour proves to the analyst that his trouble has not been in vain. In my experience, it is those children