Child psychoanalysis

Domain I · Psychodynamic & depth psychology · Anna Freud, Melanie Klein · 1926 · UK

What it is

Child psychoanalysis applies psychoanalytic treatment to children, using play, drawing and talk where adults use free association. It is a clinical tradition with founding texts, not a manualised therapy. There is no session-by-session protocol, and the "phases" below come from the founders'…

Format

• No founder sets fixed session counts. The figures below are typical ranges from the texts and current practice, and are marked where uncertain.
• Format

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• [C] Most NHS CAMHS work is once a week for 50 minutes, often for a year or more. "Intensive" means 3–5 sessions a week. Parent work runs in parallel, usually with a separate clinician. Brief and consultation models also exist.]
• Version followed: two named versions side by side. [AF] Anna Freud / Hampstead (The Psycho-Analytical Treatment of Children, lectures 1927, English ed. 1946; Normality and Pathology in Childhood 1965; the Hampstead Clinic, now Anna Freud). [K] Melanie Klein's play technique (The Psycho-Analysis of Children 1932; "The psycho-analytic play technique: its history and significance" 1955; Narrative of a Child Analysis…
• Child psychoanalysis applies psychoanalytic treatment to children, using play, drawing and talk where adults use free association. It is a clinical tradition with founding texts, not a manualised therapy. There is no session-by-session protocol, and the "phases" below come from the founders' descriptions and current training practice.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Over-disclosure. Being drawn into the network's splits.
• Over-interpreting colours or shapes in isolation. Follow the sequence.
• Parents feeling shut out, which is a common reason for premature ending.
• Mistaking a real current event (for example a parent's illness) for transference.
• Interpretations that are not anchored in the child's history or repeated material.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.