Research in child psychoanalysis: twenty-five-year follow-up of a severely disturbed child

In an era of managed care, psychoanalytic treatment of children is under fire as critics question whether the evidence of success in child analysis is sufficiently robust to warrant the large commitment of time and money required for this treatment. This article chronicles the history and current state of research at the Anna Freud Centre, and describes the evolution of a database that has methodically recorded and systematically organized data from over 750 cases of children referred to the Centre over a forty-five-year period. Analysis of this database has determined what kinds of childhood disorders are best treated with intensive psychoanalysis, and what kinds do not respond to this form of treatment. A long-term follow-up of a small sample of these childreen suggests the kinds of long-term benefits that can be gained when an individual is treated with intensive psychoanalysis as a child. As an example, clinical material from the analysis of an eight-year-old is presented along with follow-up interview data twenty-five years later.