Miller critiques traditional psychoanalytic approaches that unconsciously align with parental perspectives and instead advocates for analysts to identify with the suffering child within the patient. By doing so, analysts can help patients articulate repressed emotions and confront the reality of their early experiences. The case of Peter, a young analyst who validated a patient's experience of being raped during World War II, illustrates the transformative power of this approach. 'I distance myself... from an unconscious identification with the parent or pedagogue and consciously identify with the mute child in the patient.' | Alice Miller | Thou Shalt Not Be Aware

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The Analyst as an Advocate for the Inner Child

Miller critiques traditional psychoanalytic approaches that unconsciously align with parental perspectives and instead advocates for analysts to identify with the suffering child within the patient. By doing so, analysts can help patients articulate repressed emotions and confront the reality of their early experiences. The case of Peter, a young analyst who validated a patient's experience of being raped during World War II, illustrates the transformative power of this approach. 'I distance myself... from an unconscious identification with the parent or pedagogue and consciously identify with the mute child in the patient.'

-- Alice Miller