Breaks and sibling figures in child psychotherapy

Abstract

This chapter focuses on an unexpected windfall of the investigation: the linking of breaks to hostile sibling figures in a child’s mind. It explores core themes in child psychotherapy with children who have suffered early abuse and neglect. The chapter investigates possible links between breaks in the time structure of therapy and such core themes. The chapter examines development of a transparent and systematic methodology for the psychoanalytic case study by application of a rigorous qualitative research method. A main finding of the study was a characteristic pattern of subjective core themes running as a red thread through all Samantha’s relationships, not only inside the therapy, but also in early infancy and her daily life concurrent to therapy. The specific pattern of core themes probably reflects the fact that Samantha early in her life had suffered severe neglect and maltreatment.