[Development of therapeutic relations in ambulatory pediatric psychoanalytic therapy with a 4 1/2-year-old girl]

The initial phase of outpatient psychoanalytic child therapy with a young child is described to illustrate how the expansion of the child's fantasies reflects the development of a therapeutic relationship. A prerequisite for the development of such a relationship is the child's ability to allow the process to occur. Examples are given of how therapeutic interventions enhance this ability by acceptance of the child's behavior and fantasies as a meaningful representation of her/his problems. Such interventions are selected with reference to developmental problems typical for children of a given patient's age.