Adolescent Psychiatry - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2011

The lead article in this issue is an essay by Joseph Noshpitz on the Shakespeare play “Love's Labor's Lost,” in which Noshpitz analyzes the play in terms of what it reveals about pubertal development. Although written sometime before 1997, when Noshpitz died, it was never published. In it Noshpitz also reminds us of how endlessly fascinating normal pubertal development is. I won't say more here, other than to say how enj Read More

Love's Labor's Lost is a whimsical and fashionable play of lords, ladies, love, and badinage. The humor is sparkling, the situations farcical, the language for the most part in rhyme and the ending lighthearted. Viewed from a dynamic standpoint, however, some elements creep in, which suggest that in this work, Shakespeare was telling the story of his early puberty, and reliving through the means of comedy some of the Read More

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Therapeutic communities have a long history, dating back to the Middle Ages. Beginning in the mid 20th century, the therapeutic community was revived in the form of such programs as Synanon, led by former substance abusers. Subsequent TCs have built upon the early principles of Synanon but adapted to meet the changing needs of clients and incorporated what has been learned from the expansion of the knowled Read More

Interventions to reduce the likelihood of relapse, or a return to substance abuse after a period of abstinence, are important components of substance abuse treatment. Treatment interventions for adolescence with substance use disorders should incorporate principles of relapse prevention. The relapse prevention model advanced by Marlatt and Gordon and others in the addiction field is a self-control model, base Read More

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Historically there has been a lamentably wide gap between Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and psychodynamic psychotherapy. Although each has a distinct language, they actually utilize parallel principles. This paper is an attempt to integrate the two fields, using clinical examples from an inpatient unit for chemically dependent adolescents. Each of the Twelve Steps is equated with a psychodynamic mechanism. For exampl Read More

Boys greatly outnumber girls in mental health treatment settings prior to adolescence, but this ratio begins to change dramatically in early adolescence. While adolescent girls are less likely to commit violent crimes, suicide, be victims of homicide, use drugs and alcohol, or smoke, than adolescent boys, they are more prone to psychological distress, and subject to increased risks of depressive illnesses, eating disorders, Read More

This study investigated Israeli adolescent coping with terror during a three year period. Ten and 11th graders (n=147) from two major cities in Israel, one exposed to frequent terror attacks and the other relatively free from terrorism participated in the study. A self-report questionnaire measured terror-related stress responses (TRSR), perceived vulnerability and controllability, and measures of indirect exposure to terror Read More

Objective: To explore the effectiveness of wet sheet packs on auto/hetero aggressive behaviors in children and adolescents hospitalized in a psychiatric setting. Method: We reviewed the charts of all patients (N=8) who received packing therapy in the context of resistance to behavioral interventions, milieu therapy and medications from 2005-2009. We scored the level of auto/hetero aggressive behaviors per patient for Read More

This paper presents a follow-up of the psychoanalytic psychotherapy of eight male adolescents treated by one of the authors (IHB). A questionnaire was offered to them 15-30 years after their initial psychotherapeutic contact in an effort to assess the effects of the psychotherapy and their current status. Good outcome was defined in terms of their sense of fulfillment and satisfaction with their lives, success in their work, m Read More

Exhibitionism has been diagnosed in patients during adolescence into late adulthood. Although there are multiple etiologic theories for exhibitionism, there is very little consistent empirical evidence for these theories. Multiple theories are discussed with a focus on a pattern of humiliation supporting the theory of exhibitionism as countershame, as well as components of courtship theory. This case example provi Read More