Psychotherapeutic Paediatric Consultation: Some Suggestions Based On Psychoanalytic Theory

• Published in: Southern African journal of child and adolescent mental health Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 138 - 150
• Main Author: Milton, Chris
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.1997
• ISSN: 1682-6108
• DOI: 10.1080/16826108.1997.9632502

Psychotherapeutic Paediatric Consultation: Some Suggestions Based On Psychoanalytic Theory The object of this paper is to offer a psychoanalytic perspective on psychotherapeutic paediatric consultation. As physically ill infants can engender psychological distress and dysfunction in a family and medical team, psychotherapeutic paediatric consultation can prove useful. In this paper it is argued that psychoanalytic theory-and, more particularly, the concepts of phantasy, splitting and projective identification-can, when applied to the paediatric setting, provide a model for intervention. A model, with clinical examples, of phantasy, projective identification, primitive communication, vicious cycles and the ramification of emotional distress is presented and applied. These considerations are discussed and suggestions offered for psychotherapeutic paediatric intervention using the functions of 'recognition', 'containment' and 'reparation' through the medium of individual consultation, medical team and team-family conferencing.