Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 3-4.djvu/50

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304 H. VON HUG-HELLMUTH

experienced especially by the mother, when they see their child so ardently attaching himself to tlie analyst. In this connection an important task devolves upon the analyst who has to explain to the mother that the positive transference is a passing phenomea but one necessary to the success of the analysis, and in no way de- prives her permanently of Ijer child's love.

In spite of the difficulties which prevent the relations between. the parents and analyst being so friendly as might be desirable in the interests of the child, this relationship is inevitable. It is a legitimate demand on the part of the parents and furthers the treatment. For the child passes over, instinctively and, unlike the adult, without conscious criticism, everything which has no 'feel- ing-tone' for him and which is settled and done with. Conse- quently, very often we learn nothing in the analysis of difficulties at home or at school, because the child does not feel the need to revise tliese scenes, and his interest in them disappears as sooa as they have played their part according to his expectations. la addition we must not forget that the child consciously also keeps secrets. In order to ascertain some special date, or the accuracy of some memory, it is sometimes useful to question the parents; and further it is valuable for obtaining an insight into the earliest stage of the patient's life. It is here that the parents can satisfy their desire for active co-operation in the analysis, by means of written replies to the analyst's series of questions, concerning the physical and psychic development of the child in early infancy, and these communications throw a valuable light upon the sur- roundings, the outlook on life and the educational system in which the child has grown up. It is of special importance in the process of analysis to refrain from touching on certain matters, such as infantile masturbation and how it ceased, and to overlook a de- cided denial in respect to certain matters which we all know (just like the interest in the digestive process, etc.) must be answered in the affirmative by every child. This emphatic denial of all kinds of 'nastiness' aiifords the analyst guiding-lines for the treat- ment of the sexual problem.

I consider it impossible for anyone to analyse properly his own child. This is so not only because the child hardly ever reveals its deepest desires and thoughts, conscious or unconscious, to father and mother, but because in this case the analyst is often driven to re-construct too freely, and also because the narcissism