ABSTRACT
A major component of child and adolescent psychotherapy, beside interpretation and play, is the use of the transference and countertransference. All analytic therapists, be they child or adult, are taught from the very beginning of their training about the importance of transference. For adolescents especially, directly naming the transference can feel too hot. The difficulty with transference interpretations is that they can be too cold. Anna Freud believed that Klein and her followers interpreted the transference too early and too widely. One of the most important distinctions in clinical practice is the difference between working 'in' and 'with' the transference. Understanding the distinction can enable the therapist to regulate the potency and directness of the transference. If the therapist has processed the child's communication, including the countertransference, then the play itself can be used to communicate back the countertransference to the child.
