Clinical PerspectiveWill you leave me too?: The impact of father absence on the treatment of a 10-year-old girl

Abstract

This paper addresses the impact father absence has on child development and the nature of the transference between father absent, child and therapist. A review of psychoanalytic concepts and theories that relate to this topic are applied to a case study of a preadolescent girl with an incarcerated father. Specific forms of transference that occurred between the client and her male therapist are articulated in an effort to demonstrate the power of working in the transference with girls who struggle with their feelings about having an absent father.

Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2013, 25(2): 119–130