The article offers a clinical and theoretical conception of the handling of a child’s drawing in the context of a family consultation. The theoretical framework is that of family and group psychoanalysis. Drawing on a clinical vignette, I show how the handling of a spontaneous graphic production in a family consultation mobilizes the group imaginary and the family’s capacities for elaboration in a situation where psychic spaces, at both the individual and familial level, have been breached by the violence of intrafamilial sexual abuse. A number of rules are identified for handling a drawing, such as how to present it to the family, group associativity, the circularity of the exchanges, the object of interpretation, and the need for vigilance with regard to the risks of impingement on the child’s psychic space.
Keywords
- Family consultation
- a child’s drawing
- play
- dream
- family psychotherapy
- sexual abuse