Unity of analysis: similarities and differences in the analysis of children and grown-ups

When comparing child analysis with that of grown-ups, we are confronted with a substantial unity of psychoanalytic method, beyond the apparent differences. The more we consider the analysis as a here-and-now interaction between analyst and patient with transformative potential, the more age-dependent differences become blurred, and the specificity of a particular analytic couple acquires more significance. At the same time, what seems to be all the same--the actual patient before us--is quite different, with several components (the child, adolescent, and adult parts), implying a need to recognize the part we should address at any given point.