Developmental Perspectives in Child Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

313 Pages·2018·11.84 MB·English

by  Christopher Bonovitz

Developmental Perspectives in Child

Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy
Developmental Perspectives in Child Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy incor-
porates recent innovations in developmental theory and research into our
understanding of the nature of change in child psychotherapy. Diverse psy-
choanalytic ideas and individual styles are represented, challenging the his-
torical allegiance in analytic child therapy to particular, and so often singular,
schools of thought. Each of the distinguished contributors offers a concep-
tually grounded and clinically rich account of child development, address-
ing topics such as reflective functioning, the role of play, dreaming, trauma
and neglect, the development of recognition and mutuality, autism, adoption,
and non-b inary conceptions of gender. Extended clinical vignettes offer the
reader clear vision into the convergence of theory and practice, demonstrat-
ing the potential of psychoanalytic psychotherapy to move child development
forward. This book will appeal to all practicing mental health professionals.
Christopher Bonovitz, Psy.D., is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the
William Alanson White Institute in New York City and Adjunct Clinical
Associate Professor at the New  York University Postdoctoral Program
in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. He is on the editorial board of
Psychoanalytic Dialogues and Contemporary Psychoanalysis and maintains
a psychotherapy and consultation practice with children, adolescents, and
adults in New York City.
Andrew Harlem, Ph.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the California
Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco, an instructor at the
Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC), and faculty mem-
ber at the Access Institute for Psychological Services. He is on the editorial
board of Psychoanalytic Dialogues and is a past president of the Northern
California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology. Dr. Harlem maintains a
psychotherapy and consultation practice in San Francisco and Oakland,
California.

Relational Perspectives Book Series

Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris
Series Co- Editors
Steven Kuchuck & Eyal Rozmarin
Associate Editors
The Relational Perspectives Book Series publishes books that grow out of or
contribute to the relational tradition in contemporary psychoanalysis. The
term relational psychoanalysis was first used by Greenberg and Mitchell1 to
bridge the traditions of interpersonal relations as developed within interper-
sonal psychoanalysis and object relations, in turn developed within contem-
porary British theory. But, under the seminal work of the late Stephen A.
Mitchell, the term relational psychoanalysis grew and began to accrue to itself
many other influences and developments. Various tributaries – interpersonal
psychoanalysis, object relations theory, self psychology, empirical infancy
research, and elements of contemporary Freudian and Kleinian thought –
flow into this tradition, which understands relational configurations between
self and others, both real and fantasied, as the primary subjects of psycho-
analytic investigation.
We refer to the relational tradition, rather than to a relational school, to
highlight that we are identifying a trend, a tendency within contemporary
psychoanalysis, not a more formally organized or coherent school or system
of beliefs. Our use of the term relational signifies a dimension of theory and
practice that has become salient across the wide spectrum of contemporary
psychoanalysis. Now under the editorial supervision of Lewis Aron and
Adrienne Harris, with the assistance of Associate Editors Steven Kuchuck
and Eyal Rozmarin, the Relational Perspectives Book Series originated in
1990 under the editorial eye of the late Stephen A. Mitchell. Mitchell was
the most prolific and influential of the originators of the relational tradition.
Committed to dialogue among psychoanalysts, he abhorred the authoritari-
anism that dictated adherence to a rigid set of beliefs or technical restrictions.
He championed open discussion and comparative and integrative approaches
and promoted new voices across the generations.
Included in the Relational Perspectives Book Series are authors and works
that come from within the relational tradition and extend and develop that
tradition, as well as works that critique relational approaches or compare
and contrast it with alternative points of view. The series includes our most
distinguished senior psychoanalysts, along with younger contributors who
bring fresh vision. A full list of titles in this series is available at https:// www.
routledge.com/ mentalhealth/ series/ LEARPBS.
Note

1 Greenberg, J. & Mitchell, S. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic
theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Developmental Perspectives

in Child Psychoanalysis and
Psychotherapy
Edited by Christopher Bonovitz
and Andrew Harlem
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Christopher Bonovitz and Andrew Harlem;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the
authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Bonovitz, Christopher, editor.
Title: Developmental perspectives in child psychoanalysis and
psychotherapy / edited by Christopher Bonovitz and Andrew Harlem.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. |
Series: Relational perspectives book series ; 100 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017042155 (print) | LCCN 2017043203 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781351235488 (e-Book) | ISBN 9781351235471 (Mobipocket/Kindle) |
ISBN 9781351235495 (Web PDF) | ISBN 9781351235501 (Master) |
ISBN 9780415742184 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780415742191 (pbk : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781351235501 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Child analysis. | Child psychotherapy.
Classification: LCC RJ504.2 (ebook) | LCC RJ504.2 .D475 2018 (print) |
DDC 618.92/8914–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017042155
ISBN: 978- 0- 415- 74218- 4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 415- 74219- 1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 351- 23550- 1 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Out of House Publishing
Contents

List of contributors x
Introduction: Toward synthesis 1
ANDREW HARLEM, PH.D.
SECTION I
Infant research, reflective functioning, and
mutual regulation 11

1 Being- with: From infancy through philosophy
to psychoanalysis 13
BRUCE REIS, PH.D.
2 How we know how to be with others: Infant– parent
psychotherapy for early indicators of autism
spectrum disorders 27
BARBARA KALMANSON, PH.D.
3 Trauma and attachment: Clinical techniques to enhance
reflective functioning 51
MIRIAM STEELE, PH.D.
4 Neglect and its neglect: Developmental science,
psychoanalytic thinking, and countertransference vitality 73
GRAHAM MUSIC, PH.D.
viii Contents
SECTION II
Play, dreaming, and the growth of mind 97

5 The universe of play: Technique in contemporary
child therapy 99
PETER CARNOCHAN, PH.D.
6 The analyst as dreaming filmmaker 119
ANTONIO FERRO, M.D. AND ELENA MOLINARI, M.D.
7 The emergence of the analyst’s childhood: Embodied history
and its influence on the dyadic system 141
CHRISTOPHER BONOVITZ, PSY.D.
8 Theory of mind and therapeutic action: A contemporary
Freudian integration 158
NEAL VORUS, PH.D.
SECTION III
Mutuality and the self in relation 181

9 A child therapist at work: Playing, talking, and the therapist’s
inner dialogue 183
CHRISTOPHER BONOVITZ, PSY.D.
10 The origins of relationality: The role of pre- and perinatal
experience in the structure, psychopathology, and treatment of
the relational self 199
BRENT WILLOCK, PH.D.
11 “Is this chair alive?”: Interpersonal relating and the beginnings
of the self 223
SETH ARONSON, PSY.D.
Contents ix
SECTION IV
Reimagining gender 239

12 What’s your gender? 241
DIANE EHRENSAFT, PH.D.
13 Holding futurity in mind: Therapeutic action in the relational
treatment of a transgender girl 263
AVGI SAKETOPOULOU, PSY.D.
Index 285