ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a research opportunities for child psychoanalytic therapy. Lines of psychoanalytic research that might be particularly useful to develop are highlighted both to advance psychoanalysis and child therapy more generally. The vast majority of contemporary psychotherapy research falls in the tradition of quantitative research that includes group comparisons and null hypothesis statistical testing. The main focus of contemporary psychotherapy research is on evidence-based treatments (EBT). Among the central issues is the need to understand psychotherapy and how it produces change. A limitation in identifying EBTs pertains to what counts as evidence. The criteria for demonstrating treatment efficacy and concluding that treatment is "evidence-based" are not sufficiently stringent. The search for EBTs is aimed at this lofty and important objective. There is an important role and place for weak treatments. A therapist who has practiced child analysis will have many ideas about each of these based on well-developed conceptualization treatment and clinical experience.
