To report and discuss the use of psychoanalytic treatment for children victims of sexual abuse.

We report the psychoanalytic therapy of a seven year-old boy, sexually abused, discussing the “play technique” developed by Melanie Klein.

The boy does not speak to the analyst about the abuse. He has serious changes in his behavior and attempted suicide after that. In the first session with play materials, he draws a heart and partially paints it black, writing his name in it. He is very uncomfortable with the stains caused by black pencil on the white paper sheet. With scissors he cuts the heart and places it on the stretcher. He throws away the stained paper in the waste paper basket. Then he plays the game of catch-rods. At the end of the session, he puts all the toys in the box, and gives to the analyst the “cut up heart” that was on the stretcher, saying that it should be kept under the analyst's care.

With the use of the toy, Klein was able to extend the psychoanalytic concepts proposed by Freud from the analysis of adults, allowing children to be analyzed. By playing, children symbolically represent their fantasies, anxieties and defenses, expressing their models of relationship with the world. In the session of “play therapy”, children can communicate their anxieties and also find resources for the overcoming of their traumas. With his “cut up heart”, the child communicates his suffering, requiring care from the analyst.