"Where work is play for mortal stakes": the good hour in child analysis

To explore the concept of the "good hour" in child analysis I discuss an hour in the analysis of a six-and-a-half-year-old girl. Elements of this hour include a palpable therapeutic alliance, affective immediacy, surprise, and discovery, oscillating therapeutic action of action, play, and verbalization, creative accessibility to the unconscious, the transference, the countertransference, and a capacity to work with conflict, defense, and fantasy. These qualities are similar to those described by Kris for adult analysis over forty years ago. The present hour, however, illustrates greater emphasis on affect rather than drive, the therapeutic action of play in the analytic setting, and the transformative importance of the relationship. In addition, the hour highlights a greater focus on communication by action and enactment, the highly informative uses of the countertransference, and the co-creation of the analytic process.