TREATING A HIGH-RISK MOTHER–CHILD RELATIONSHIP

In this paper, the author presents detailed clinical material to portray the experience of intensive therapy shared with a young school-aged boy and his very troubled mother. The therapy involved a challenging combination of triadic sessions along with dyadic child-therapist sessions observed by the boy’s mother from behind a one-way mirror. The discussion centers on the impact of complex transference and countertransference experiences and recommends conjoint sessions as the first option when treating young school-aged children in relationship with a highly troubled parent. I am indebted to Jacqueline Hanley for her support and encouragement, without which this paper might not have been written. Thanks are also due to Jack Howard MLS for his reference assistance.