ABSTRACT
Children’s play can, admittedly, also get lost in narcissistic over-inflation of self-importance which blanks out the disturbing reality of others and of triangulating thought, or which in obsessive repetition acts as defence against all forms of threatening inner objects. This chapter outlines the central points of view from which the term technique of treatment can be seen and discuss some implications of these ways of seeing it for child analysis. Melanie Klein explored and brought out the equivalence of children’s play with dream in The Psychoanalysis of Children pointing out that associations can be obtained as well from a child as from an adult, if psychoanalyst use children’s play as a medium in the analysis. The child or adolescent will not allow this illusion partly because of the more direct form of interaction but also because of his or her need to engage with adults: a need inherent in the process of growing up.
