A retrospective analysis of the problems of child development in psychoanalysis

Many problems of child development have their "roots" in earlier age periods of life of children: in early childhood or in the pre-natal period. Therefore, in psychoanalysis, which is designed to establish the causes of a child's developmental pathology, a retrospective analysis is used: an anamnesis is collected, the family situation preceded by the present is analyzed, and the relationship between the parents' emotional attitude to the newborn child and the rate of its development at the present time is established.

During the period of fetal development, as well as in the first half of life, the child receives emotional and social attitudes of the parents, who are assimilated to them at the level of reflection. French psychoanalysts F. Dolto and K. Eliacheff believe that the problems of the child that arise in the first nine months of life could have a connection with the events that occurred with the mother during the same period of pregnancy. A retrospective analysis of a mother's pregnancy helps to establish this event, to analyze and understand the emotions that she experienced in this situation to the child, and also to find a connection with the new development situation.

A child of a woman who had suicidal intentions at the fifth month of pregnancy can suddenly fall ill in four to five months of life. At the same time, his illness can be acute, threatening the life of the baby. The same authors, using the example of their own practice, proved that with such situations it is possible to work successfully, to change the direction of development. For this, psychoanalysts recommend talking to the child, telling him the truth about that event and showing how to avoid problems. The conversation is conducted with a child of any age: with an infant or with a preschooler. The purpose of such conversations is not the child's comprehension of the cause of his problems, but a change of attitude toward further development.

In psychology, retrospective analysis is a look into the child's past, the search for such conditions and situations that have become a "trigger" for the development of undesirable traits of the child's character, or, conversely, contributed to a halt in development. Z. Freud, working with adults, was looking for the cause of their problems in relationships in the characteristics of child development. The psychoanalyst conducted a retrospective analysis of the patient's memories, talking daily with the person being examined, until the cause of his illness or problem became clear.

A child psychoanalyst uses data that parents give him, not a child. The child can not determine the beginning of his own problem behavior, because not only does he not remember all the events of his childhood, but he does not realize the necessity of their elimination. His pathological behavior kid successfully uses as a protective mechanism, so even resists when parents and a psychoanalyst try to eliminate the problem. So, fights can be necessary for a preschool child to protect themselves from the anxious expectation that children in a group can attack him, offend, take away toys. Often a sick child can treat the disease as a blessing, because with his help he can spend more time at home with his parents. In order to understand what kind of unconscious goal the child pursues, while keeping his problem, it is necessary to carry out an analysis together with him. It is held in the office of a children's analyst with the participation of parents.

Working with the youngest children who do not know how to draw, play and talk is not just in the presence of parents, but in close unity with them. Memories of the period of pregnancy, the very first experiences about the child are the essence of the work. They become the basis for elementary games of the child, who demonstrates his attitude towards the story of his parents by his behavior. After the retrospective analysis is carried out, the analyst stimulates parents to independently search for solutions to overcome problems, to change attitudes toward the child. Important for all participants in the process is the intention to escape from the experiences of the past, to form a new perception, taking into account the current situation.