Development II: 6 to 12 Years

Fourth Year Adult Psychoanalytic Training (APT)
2021-22, 2nd Trimester — Fridays, 1:45-3:15pm
Ashley Harmon, MD

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January 28, 2022 — The Role of Play in Middle Childhood and Its Implications for Child and Adult Treatment

[21 pages]

The goal of this class is to explore the world of play and how play is an essential component for many psychoanalytic treatments.  A recent article is added to demonstrate teleanalysis and its capacity to serve as a potential model for treatment delivery.

Early theoretical and clinical contributions from Donald Winnicott, M.D. and “The Middle School” will be recognized as the early precursors for later key advancements in psychoanalytic theory, attachment research, and clinical practice focusing on mutuality, empathy, and resilience.

Williams, M. (1975) The Velveteen Rabbit: Or, How Toys Become Real. Avon Books, New York.

Ablon, S.L. (2001) Continuities of Tongues: A Developmental Perspective on the Role of Play in Child and Adult Psychoanalytic Process. Journal of Clinical Psychoanalysis, 10:345-365

Optional Reading

Ornstein, A. (1984) The Function of Play in the Process of Child Psychotherapy: A Contemporary Perspective. Annual of Psychoanalysis 12:349-366

Sehon, C. (2021) Technology as a Play Object in Teleanalysis with Young Children. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 74:26-43

Winnicott, D.W. (1971) Therapeutic Consultations in Child Psychiatry.  Basic Books, Inc.

This is a compilation of case illustrations of brief clinical consultations.  (I added it because of The Squiggle Game illustrations.

This case was scanned for class discussion.