title: Developmental aspects of the primary process.
abstract: The structural-developmental view of primary process initially proposed by Holt (1967) defines primary process as a special system of processing information in the service of "synthetic necessity." Rather than being an archaic, chaotic mode of ideation, primary process follows an independent line of development with specific organizational and synthesizing properties. Vignettes from three phases of the treatment of a severely disturbed child provide clinical evidence to support this viewpoint.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Graves
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010553:Personality Development; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012561:Schizophrenia, Childhood / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*