The Concept of the Infantile

This chapter offers a synthesis of the concept of the infantile (l’Infantile), considered from the angle of the analytic encounter. It examines the dissymmetry of the analytic pair, analyses the criteria for the termination of the analyst’s analysis and the particular status of his post-analytic repression. It describes infantile illnesses in the countertransference and focuses on the infantile factors underlying the parental transferences in psychoanalytic treatments of children.