ABSTRACT
The conceptual and technical tools used by current child therapists are the legacy of previous generations of therapists, who have shared their thoughts in publications and supervision. As with most things psychoanalytic, work with children begins with Freud. The earliest worker who applied analytic ideas to children's education is Hermine Hug-Hellmuth. Hug-Hellmuth's thoughts on working with the parents were remarkably modern. Hug-Hellmuth noted the parents' need for strategies, or what she calls 'active therapy', and how it is important to help the parents be patient and understanding of the troubling behaviour. Klein was critical of Hug-Hellmuth 'completely avoiding interpretations' (Grosskurth 1986, p. 93, quoted in Geissmann 1998, p. 70), the ultimate crime to a strict Kleinian! Klein does recognise Hug-Hellmuth's use of play, but because this was not used for interpretation its importance is minimised. Any history of psychoanalytic psychotherapy with children and adolescents must include Anna Freud and Melanie Klein.
