> Skip to content
  • Published: 8 June 2011
  • ISBN: 9781446476413
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

The Psycho-Analysis of Children




This hugely influential volume from the pioneering Klein is a key text in the development of psychoanalysis.

The Psycho-Analysis of Children, first published in 1932, is a classic in its subject, and revolutionised child analysis. Melanie Klein had already proved, by the special technique she devised, that she was a pioneer in that branch of analysis. She made possible the extension of psycho-analysis to the field of early childhood, and in this way not only made the treatment of young children possible but also threw new light on psychological development in childhood and on the roots of adult neuroses and psychoses.

  • Published: 8 June 2011
  • ISBN: 9781446476413
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

About the author

Melanie Klein

Melanie Klein was born in Vienna in 1882. At about fourteen she decided to study medicine. With her brother's help she learned enough Greek and Latin to pass into the Gymnasium. But her early engagement and subsequent marriage in 1903 brought a halt to her plans. Years later, discovering a booklet on dreams by Freud, she turned her attention to psychoanalysis. At this time she was living in Budapest and began her own analysis with Ferenczi, who encouraged her interest in the analysis of children. In 1921 she moved to Berlin to continue her work with children, supported by Dr Karl Abraham. In 1926 she moved to London where she worked and lived until her death in 1960.

Also by Melanie Klein

See all

Praise for The Psycho-Analysis of Children

[A] seminal psychoanalytic thinker

New York Times

Klein's ideas about children, along with her many innovations in adult therapy, placed her in the top ranks of a group of 20th-century psychoanalysts who pioneered the study of early childhood psychology

Boston Globe