On becoming a child

Reverie in the psychotherapy of children

Bibliographic Data

ID8970928
AuthorsNir Hermon (0000-0002-9684-7104, Mental Health Clinic for the Child, Adolescent and Family, Ehad Haam, Haifa, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume97
Issue6
Pages1591-1608
Publication date2016-04-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1745-8315.12516
PMID27059950
OpenAlexW2322163366
LanguageEN
References cited7

My aim in this paper is to examine the role of reverie in facilitating the development of the child-subject, that is, the child's continuous motion towards subjectivity. I begin by briefly reviewing the concept of reverie and proceed with an examination of elements I believe are fundamental and common to both reverie and child psychotherapy, that is, primary thought processes and primitive impulses. I then describe and demonstrate the atmosphere created by these elements using three examples from the psychotherapy of 8 year-old Jonathan. Next, I discuss an intersubjective parallel of Bion's reverie and a developmentally oriented version of Ogden's reverie, focusing on its relation to processes of destruction and recognition. I argue that reverie provides the recognition of the child's struggle for his own birth and growth as a subject, that is, of his child-subject. Finally, I refer to the presence of reverie from the primary preoccupation of mother and father till the child's reverie of himself, his day-dreaming

Child psychotherapy · Epistemology · Ogden · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Relation (database · Subject (documents · Subjectivity · Computer Science · Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Representations and Identity

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub