Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 3-4.djvu/48

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H. VON HUG-HELLMUTH

whose seeming compliance might tempt one to satisfaction, who are the most difficult type for treatment: they are the well-drilled kind, who say 'yes' to everything, but in their hearts say 'no' and act accordingly.

Intuition and patience, these are the foundations which must be laid from the first meeting with the young patient, in order that confidence may rest on solid ground.

An important factor in child-analysis is the relationship be- tween the analyst and the young patient's family. One might think that in this respect the analyst-educator would have an advantage over his medical colleagues, since the child comes for treatment owing to the parents' wish, whereas the adult comes of his own accord, very often quite against the wish of his family. Unfortun- ately this idea is quite incorrect. In the case of the child as well, psycho-analysis is looked upon as the last resource, and the parents, who have found all other educational measures fail, have a good deal of mistrust even of psycho-analysis. In spite of this, they expect a 'miraculous cure' which shall remedy in the course of days the mistakes of years. And the relatives cling to this expectation, in spite of the analyst's quite explicit information that the duration of the treat- ment cannot be fixed in advance because it is dependent upon the in- dividual character of the child, but that it will certainly stretch over several months. I have proved over and over again that the relatives from the very beginning of the treatment have privately settled in their own minds a time-limit, and this they maintain, incapable of sufficient insight to understand that to break off treat- ment half-way through means waste of time, trouble, and money. Of course, the psycho-analytic treatment itself is held responsible for the consequence of the premature breaking-off, namely, that there is a considerable intensification of the original trouble— and this is produced by the child (in part consciously, in part uncon- sciously) owing to his revolt against the loss of treatment which though at first compulsory has become indispensable to him. The parents' criticism of the treatment is made more poignant owing o their painful consciousness, mingled with shame, anxiety and bitterness, of having failed in regard to their children's successful training. In addition the knowledge that the analysis reveals all the mistakes made in the upbringing of the child in spite of the best intentions, and that the analyst obtains an insight (very undesir- able from the parent's point of view, into intimate family affairs