In the Therapy Kitchen: The Transformation of a Wild Child

Abstract

This discussion of Gotthold’s treatment of a child highlights the development of reflective functioning in a “wild child” whose parents were both extremely narcissistically vulnerable and emotionally disengaged. The therapist‘s ability to assume critical selfobject, regulating and attachment functions in the play space are illustrated at three clinical junctures. In the context of the therapeutic relationship, the patient was helped to articulate, elaborate and symbolize his feelings and experience through play. The incremental evolution of key developmental and relational capacities and a more cohesive sense of self were gains of this long treatment. The co-creation of this developmentally rich, leading edge, intersubjective treatment fostered affective stabilization, creativity, and an enhanced sense of self, despite an abrupt termination.

Keywords:

• affective regulation
• child therapy
• developmental perspective
• family system
• intersubjective relatedness
• reflective functioning

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sandra G. Hershberg

Sandra G. Hershberg, MD, is a psychoanalyst and child and adult psychiatrist. She is the Director of Psychoanalytic Training, Founding Member, and Training and Supervising Analyst at the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis in Washington, DC; and the Training and Supervising Analyst at the Washington Center for Psychoanalysis. She also serves as Associate Editor of Psychoanalysis, Self, and Conflict and as Consulting Editor for Psychoanalytic Inquiry.