Mitos e segredos: um estudo sobre a estrutura e a dinâmica familiar no psicodiagnóstico infantil

Abstract

In this dissertation, family myths and secrets were studied and utilized as interpretative instruments in the psycho-diagnosis of children with the objective of broadening the investigation of children's inner dynamics, within a historical framework of three generations. The initial interviews, anamneses and tri-generational interviews held with parents, as well as the diagnostic play sessions with children, were presented and analyzed, as part of a broad psycho-diagnostic process. Then followed a reconstruction of the family histories, in order to detect the myths and secrets which would give access to the unconscious family structures and make possible a better understanding of children's symptomatic formations as well as the anxieties and phantasies expressed during the play sessions. Five clinical cases, of children between the ages of three and nine years? attend in a private clinic, were used as material to illustrate the proposed analysis. The study of family myths and secrets was shown to be a facilitating instrument in the understanding of reciprocal influences between children's disturbances and family dynamics. The comparison between the play session and the tri-generational investigation not only allowed broader knowledge of the individuals under study, but also a more complete understanding of the children during the play sessions. As a result, a greater discrimination between intra- and inter-personal conflicts became possible, permitting more adequate guidance for the parents