Reconsidering Classic Case Studies: The “Mechanical Boy” and the “Space Child”

Abstract

SUMMARY Bruno Bettelheim and Rudolph Ekstein are two of the early seminal figures in the field of residential treatment for severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. Many of their published works included detailed examinations of clinical case material and discussions that involved explorations of the therapeutic use of meaning and metaphor in the behaviors and communications of psychotic children. The current paper revisits their respective classic case studies, “Joey: A Mechanical Boy” and “Tommy the Space Child,” as well as discusses the implications of contemporary relational theory for using the meaning and metaphor of behaviors and communications described in classic case studies and, by extension, to other clinical situations.