Narrative of a Child Analysis

by Melanie Klein

Melanie Klein gives a detailed account of the analysis of a ten year old boy, Richard. Klein describes the day to day course of the analysis interpreting Richard`s drawing, play, verbal associations and reports of dreams. Also included is the reproduction of the drawings made by the patient, the analysis of which is elaborated in this text.This fascinating and deeply instructive case study shows the fluctuations which characterise a psycho-analysis and reveals the dynamics of the steps which eventually lead to progress in treatment.In a series of notes accompanying the clinical description, Melanie Klein comments upon the clinical material, linking the actual instances to more theoretical conclusions. In doing so, she has provided an invaluable guide to the technique of psycho-analysing children.

Genres: Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Nonfiction, Academic

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

An Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had a significant impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis. She was a leading innovator in theorizing object relations theory.

Reviews

[Ainhoa Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for those interested in psychoanalysis. Klein's narrative is sublime, easy to follow, simple but yet with an incredible amount of information and meaning.

[Paul Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fairly shocking in that the interpretations Melanie Klein offers her ten year old analysand are very explicit sexual interpretations and encourage Richard to acknowledge his intense sexual desires in relation to both his parents and of course to Mrs K herself. Perhaps I should not have been either surprised or shocked but I was. Having said that, the book does give a great insight into Mrs K's technique and her theoretical views and both are pretty impressive. I found it a bit hard to read to start with but by the end was really quite into it. The relationship between the therapist and the patient is also sensitively conveyed and moving.

[Farrah Rotman · Rating 5 out of 5]

shocking at first, then frustrating, and then deeply moving

[FiveBooks]

Psychotherapist Dr Judith Edwards has chosen to discuss Narrative of a Child Analysis by Melanie Klein on FiveBooks as one of the top five on her subject - Child Psychotherapy, saying that:

"...In Narrative of a Child Analysis Klein describes her work during the war with a 10-year-old school-refusing child, Richard, when they were both evacuated to Pitlochry. Unsurprisingly, Richard co-opts Hitler and the opposing armies and navies into his own private internal war, his Empire of Mum, as he called it, giving Klein the opportunity to show in detail day by day the unconscious conflicts and rivalries which had produced such profound anxiety in the boy. Richard wanted to be sole possessor of his mother’s love, to the exclusion of his father and brother. Here was Freud’s original notion of the Oedipus complex writ large..."

The full interview is available here: http://fivebooks.com/interviews/judit...

[bookolibro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could meet Richard

[Nightkid · Rating 3 out of 5]

　　為何傳統的心理學者，總是要把兒童的心理發展與性扯上關係？看到作者克萊恩夫人一本正經地向理查闡釋他的行為與聯想，如何反映了性、性器官、性關係、向父親報復的心態等等，真會讓讀者我以為理查是一個成年人，但事實上，理查不過是一個年僅十歲的小男孩。
　　看到作者描述，他竟然不至一次認同她的闡釋，我真懷疑，這個十歲的小鬼到底聽懂了多少。