Adolescent Psychiatry - Volume 2, Issue 1, 2012

This issue features articles based on presentations at the 2011 Congress of the International Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, held in Berlin September 14-18. The theme of the congress was Adolescence: A Second Chance? Ably organized by an international scientific committee headed by Annette Streeck-Fischer and Franz Resch, the program spanned the entire field of adolescent psychiatry, and included presen Read More

Since Sigmund Freud introduced his revolutionary ideas in the early 20th century, many other theorists have made significant contributions to psychoanalytic theory, sometimes extending, sometimes challenging, the views of each other. Major contributions have come from developmental psychologists, empirical researchers, feminist psychoanalysts, self-psychologists, and others, each of whom has sought better explanati Read More

In this introductory address to the the Congress of the Interntional Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology (ISAPP) in Berlin September 14-18, 2011, incoming ISAPP President Annette Streeck-Fischer interprets the Adam and Eve story of Genesis in the Bible as a myth depicting adolescent development. Elements of sexual maturation, risk-taking, and separation from parents, are present in the story. We are remi Read More

Attachment theory and research can contribute to the self psychological/intersubjective approach to clinical work with adolescents. Focusing on affective interactions, several adolescent cases demonstrate how knowledge of the AAI (Adult Attachment Interview) can help practitioners recognize disturbed and disturbing affective interactions that serve as the conduit for intergenerational transmission of emotional dysfunction.

Attachment research, which began with children but was subsequently extended to adolescents and adults, has informed psychoanalytic theory and deepened our understanding of the essential continuities and discontinuities of development. This paper briefly reviews attachment theory and considers the relevance of ambivalent-preoccupied attachment, one of two types of insecure attachment, for understanding psychic vul Read More

The aim of this paper is to think over the importance of words and their transformative power in the psychotherapeutic treatment of adolescent patients who have been abused and ill-treated within their families. In particular, we try to analyze the long and winding path leading from abuse to the restoring and the introjection of what we term “the law” in these patients. The law structures the inter-subjective space with meanin Read More

The developmental task to accept one's inborn mortality and thereby to propel one's procreative strivings cannot be mastered before adolescence when the transforming person is crossing the border between childhood and adulthood. The difficulties to integrate infanticidal/destructive strivings into life supporting needs in adolescence as a precondition for well caring parenthood often appear to be due to defenses against reme Read More

In the field of developmental research, there is a pressing need to develop clinically sounded and empirically grounded tools for the assessment of personality development in adolescence. After a review of the relevant literature on adolescent personality disorders we present through empirical data and clinical material the IPOP-A, a semi-structured interview for adolescents ranging from 13 years old to 21 years old. The IPOP-A Read More

Although some refugee and immigrant adolescents are at increased risk for psychological problems, most adjust well to their host countries. However, there is a lack of knowledge about those very recently arrived. This study assessed if pre-migratory exposure to trauma (i. e., violence and persecution), family separation, and status in the host country predict emotional and behavioural symptoms (self- and teacher repo Read More

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-differentiating perceptions and the separation-individuation process in adolescent twins compared to non-twin siblings. A group of 32 twins aged 12-20 years, and a group of 31 non-twin adolescents aged 12-19 years were evaluated using a socio-demographic and clinical information form, the Sibling Inventory of Differential Experience (SIDE) and the Read More

This study examined the results of nine years of follow-up of group therapy with adolescents at a clinic in Montevideo, Uruguay. “Groups of adolescent life” started in the year 2002 with regular weekly sessions lasting 60-75 minutes. Five to 14 youngsters of both sexes participated in each group; the ages were between 10-12 and 12-15 years old for some groups, and between 16 -18 and 19-21 years old for other grou Read More

Aims: A fundamental concept in Racamier's thought, concerning psychotic patients and their families, consists of the efficacy of speaking actions (Racamier, 1998). The speaking action acquires sense and meaning for those clinical situations in which words cannot speak, nor communicate, and interpretations hurt, attack, represent violence, or are not heard. This report aims at presenting an example of such therapeutic str Read More

DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY “Wake me Up when I Turn 18....”: The Developmental Psychology of Adolescence and Implications for Psychotherapy Inge Seiffge-Krenke Universitat Mainz, Mainz, Germany In recent years, striking changes in adolescent development have occurred which have significant implications for psychotherapeutic work with adolescents and their parents. Many social cognitive developments Read More