ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how we have developed a reflective “third position” within the therapeutic residential task of the Mulberry Bush School. The Mulberry Bush School is a non-maintained special school for up to 40 children of primary age who have experienced early-years trauma. At the school, we have developed the use of group structures that configure to enact “oedipal triangulation” or a “third position” for children as part of this treatment process. Sigmund Freud’s conceptualization of the Oedipus complex arose out of a shift from his belief that neurotic patients had been seduced and sexually abused in childhood to a hypothesis that these patients were in fact struggling with their own incestuous phantasies. Thus, the concept of the oedipal struggle applies both to the child’s sexualized feelings towards the parent and also to parents who have to manage these same feelings towards their children.
