ABSTRACT
Neal Vorus draws on advances in autism research to articulate a contemporary Freudian perspective that bridges the conceptual divide between interpretive and relational dimensions of child treatment. Therapeutic action is conceived as activating normal developmental processes whereby children acquire the capacity to represent, tolerate, and reflect upon a range of mental states through dialogic engagement with the mind of an adult. From this perspective, the concept of interpretation is redefined as a continuous, meaning-generating dimension of the treatment relationship, rather than a series of discrete verbal statements. Emphasis here is on the analyst’s ongoing engagement with the mind of the patient, whether or not formal interpretations are offered; accordingly, defense is reconceived as a process whereby the child independently manages aspects of experience previously felt to be intolerable to the mind of the other. Vorus illustrates his approach through his work with Billy, a three-year-old patient whose father has died.
