How Far Do We Enter into a Child’s Fantasy When We Play?

In this chapter, the author aims to illuminate the clinical theories that therapists carry with them into sessions where they operate implicitly, directing their attention to select sorts of data that are then used to fashion an intervention. This, then, is the ultimate lesson of the Clinical Moments Project𔃀to learn how to listen to how therapists listen to the unfolding material. The author talks about analysts ("commentators") of varying theoretical persuasions to weigh in, sharing what they think about the situation and how they imagine they might have proceeded. As psychoanalysts, they know that their own histories and unconscious bear upon every interaction they have with patients young or old, and they strive to remain neutral in their interactions, aware of their varying states of mind. However, a child’s behavior is often more evocative than most adult behavior, easily eliciting an intense emotional and sometimes immediate response.