Issues of autonomy in the psychotherapy of children with learning problems

For certain children, learning and performance represent a major battleground in their struggles for autonomy. In treatment these children try to get the therapist to do something to them. This poses serious clinical problems since interpretations may be perceived as an attempt at control by the therapist. Such children can use interpretations only after treatment has proceeded in such a way that they have come to feel more autonomous. The psychotherapy of a latency-aged girl with severe learning problems is described and discussed. The authors' approach suggests implications for educational practice.