ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a schematic outline of development from the psychoanalytic perspective which stresses the presence and evolution of inner conflict. It discusses the clinical development of the technique of interpreting defenses against unpleasant emotions, since defenses are emotional regulation mechanisms. Understanding and addressing defenses is a central idea in therapeutic work utilizing a psychodynamic perspective. Transference is a critical phenomenon in all psychodynamic treatments. The more a clinician is aware of his/her own countertransference, the more effective he/she can be when working, particularly with a child who demonstrates externalizing behaviors and who learns very quickly the therapist's buttons to push. Children with externalizing behaviors have not developed sufficient controls and mastery over their impulses. A focus upon children's ability to master painful affects and their utilization of higher-adaptive processes of implicit emotional regulation is the essence of Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for Children with Externalizing Behaviors (RFP-C).
