Rhode, Maria (2016) Some comments on 'Autistic processes' by Frances Tustin. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 42 (1). pp. 69-81. ISSN 0075-417X

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Abstract

‘Autistic processes’, Frances Tustin tells us, is the revised version of a paper that she presented in March 1969 at what was then still called the ACP Study Weekend. Three years previously the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry had published her description of her little autistic patient John (Tustin, 1966 Tustin, F. (1966) ‘A significant element in the development of autism: a psycho-analytic approach’. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7: 56–67.): something one cannot imagine happening today. Tustin describes the two publications as companion papers that should be ‘read in conjunction with each other’. Both concern what she calls the ‘hole’ type of depression, but ‘Autistic processes’ delineates ‘primitive processes which become excessive in order to protect against its catastrophic effects’. This statement foreshadows her later formulation that children with autism made use of self-protective strategies in order to deal with catastrophic, and sometimes psychotic, anxieties; a view that found expression in the title of her last book: The Protective Shell in Children and Adults (Tustin, 1990a Tustin, F. (1990a) The Protective Shell in Children and Adults. London: Karnac.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Published online: 22 Feb 2016
Subjects:	Communication (incl. disorders of) > Autism
Department/People:	Children, Young Adult and Family Services
URI:	https://repository.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/id/eprint/1383

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