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This paper explores the impact of kinship care upon the child, as observed through the clinical lens of child psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It acknowledges the social care and policy landscape, which retains a widely held belief that kinship care is a preferable option to foster care. In the light of this belief, the paper also draws attention to the internal and external dynamics inherent in the complexities of this arrangement as presented in the child's psychotherapy and the parallel parent work. Clinical vignettes are used to illuminate the often unconscious, painful and confusing thoughts, feelings and fantasies experienced by both the child and the kinship parent. Psychoanalytic ideas relating to Freud's 'The Uncanny' and Winnicott's paper 'Mirror-role of the mother and family in child development' are used to underpin the clinical material and reflections. The paper culminates in emphasising the need for practitioners to be attentive to these dynamics, and to provide robust support for the kinship parents, in processing their kinship experience and the intergenerational traumas it may stir up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of patients' questions in psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a neglected topic in the clinical and research literature. This qualitative study aims to bridge this gap by exploring the role of patients' questions in Short-Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (STPP) with adolescents suffering from depression. This is a single case study, focusing on the interaction between the patient and his therapist when questions were asked by the patient, using conversation analysis methodology. Data was taken from the IMPACT study, a randomised controlled trial, investigating three types of therapy in the treatment of adolescent depression. The findings identify some typical ways in which the therapist responded to the patient's questions, and show that 'surprising behaviours' that seem associated with heightened affect appeared when the patient asked a question, leading to an enlivening of the therapeutic interaction. The study examines the significance of these findings within the context of the therapeutic relationship and discusses the implication of these findings for technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how an application of psychodynamic principles and techniques in a school setting can open up perspectives and insights into aspects of loss and mourning, which result in the personal and professional growth of individuals. It discusses applied psychoanalytic work in relation to its clinical base in the consulting room, in particular family work, and exemplifies this with a variety of cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]