Where we live: some dilemmas and technical issues for the child psychotherapist in interpretative work with looked-after and adopted children

Summary — English:
Kenrick examines the technical difficulties of psychoanalytic work with looked-after and adopted children from a Kleinian perspective, particularly the use of transference and countertransference.
She focuses on how experiences of separation, loss, disrupted relationships, and multiple caregivers can become active in the therapeutic relationship.
A central issue is how and when to interpret: interpretations need to be sensitive not only to their content but also to timing, emotional resonance, and the child’s capacity to receive them.
The therapist must consider whether the child’s current behaviour represents something from the past being recreated in the present, making “the past in the present” an important focus of interpretation.
Clinical material illustrates that interpretation is not simply about identifying unconscious meaning; the therapist must judge the depth, timing, and form of interpretation according to the child’s particular emotional state.