ABSTRACT The use of digital technology by children, adolescents, and adults is now ubiquitous. Unfortunately, many child analysts have had little training in how to understand and work when their young patients introduce such technology into the clinical setting. In this article, I present two cases describing my work with latency-age children who engaged with me using digital modalities. Separated by almost a decade, the two cases together exemplify how the interaction among technological advances, changing cultural attitudes, and my personal and professional development impacted how I worked with each child. I discuss the importance of tuning into emergence and use of digital technology in the analytic space, which I refer to as the “third reality,” which is separate from the child’s experiences of his/her inner world and environment. I demonstrate how allowing my child patients to access digital devices and media within sessions facilitated more meaningful connection, deeper exploration of identities, and opportunities for expression and transformation of powerful feelings. I emphasize the importance of these analytic encounters in influencing the developmental trajectory of my professional identity.

中文翻译：

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数字技术与第三现实：在分析空间中无处不在

摘要 儿童、青少年和成人对数字技术的使用现在无处不在。不幸的是，当他们的年轻患者将此类技术引入临床环境时，许多儿童分析师几乎没有接受过如何理解和工作的培训。在本文中，我介绍了两个案例，描述了我与使用数字模式与我互动的潜伏年龄儿童的工作。相隔近十年，这两个案例共同说明了技术进步、不断变化的文化态度以及我的个人和职业发展之间的相互作用如何影响我与每个孩子一起工作的方式。我讨论了在分析空间中调整数字技术的出现和使用的重要性，我称之为“第三现实”，它与孩子对他/她的内心世界和环境的体验是分开的。我展示了让我的孩子患者在治疗期间访问数字设备和媒体如何促进更有意义的联系、对身份的更深入探索以及表达和转化强烈感受的机会。我强调这些分析性接触对影响我的职业身份发展轨迹的重要性。