Abstract

STEIBEL, Denise et al. Latency today: considerations on children in psychotherapy. Aletheia [online]. 2011, n.35-36, pp. 51-68. ISSN 1413-0394.

The latency period is the least developed on psychoanalytic literature and also the least comprehended, although is the age which constitutes the largest proportion of psychological demand care in childhood. Moreover, the issue about a possible shortening of the latency period in our culture is being thought. Based on these ideas, the present study aims to describe the conflicts and the defenses of children who sought psychotherapy at a service-school, verifying if such children would present the characteristics of a work of latency. This was a collective case study with eight children aged between 7 and 9 years, which consisted on a testing date for application of psychological tests CBCL, Teste de Bender, Desenho da Figura Humana e Teste das Fábulas. As a result, it was possible to identify some children who had typical features of this period, showing intense use of defense mechanisms to deal with conflicts derivated from the Oedipus complex.

Keywords : Children; Child psychoanalysis; Projective techniques.