Adolescents in Crisis

Adolescents in Crisis offers a psychoanalytic perspective on the difficulties that can arise when young people renegotiate their relationship with the world and their own bodies as they experience puberty. This edited collection explores the tension adolescents often experience between their wish to develop and grow up, alongside the concurrent urge to regress towards a pre- pubescent way of relating to their own self and others. Covering the period from pre- teen years to the dawn of adulthood, and including clinical vignettes throughout, the contributors look at issues such as isolation, self- harm, eating disorders, gender identity and delinquent behaviors. These are often used as defense strategies against feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy that puberty can trigger. Each chapter draws on traditional and contemporary psychoanalytic thought to help the reader understand these anxieties and provide guidance on how the therapist, parent and adolescent can work through them together, allowing the young person to explore new ways of managing their anxieties. Part of the 101 Kids books series, this book is an invaluable resource for psychoanalysts and psychotherapists working with young people, as well as teachers, social workers and parents dealing with adolescents in difficulty.