The author explores the underlying mechanics of the treatment of an adolescent girl, from the establishment of the treatment setting, through handling of a massive transference, up to the support offered to attempts at disengagement. Transference, in its various representations – disharmonic, negative, lateral – is considered with reference to the bonds maintained with the transitional object, which, once used and abused, lets itself be releggated to limbo in order to allow for the investment of new objects.
Clinical work with adolescents brings to the forefront the sensorial, yet this is little studied in the psychoanalytic field. Through the study of the case of Tamara, we will explore the place of the sensorial in the adolescent process, in its symbolizing dimension, but also in its paradoxical aspect, between emptiness and saturation. This allows us to approach some clinical clues by studying the clinician’s counter-transference with adolescents we call “tightrope walkers”.
This paper presents the psychoanalysis of a fourteen year-old girl, who had experienced a lack of containing from early in her life. In the beginning of the analysis she was superficially verbal, but gradually she regressed and slept most of the time during the sessions. Sometimes she would suddenly wake up very scared and look at me as if I were a monster, but when she saw that it was me she would fall asleep again. This went on for over a year, and it was reported that she had fewer problems outside the session. Gradually she became more verbal, speaking with a soft voice, more in touch with her inner emotions.
Adolescence, 2009, T. 27, n°1, pp. 11-27.
Revue semestrielle de psychanalyse, psychopathologie et sciences humaines, indexée AERES au listing PsycINFO publiée avec le concours du Centre National du Livre et de l’Université de Paris Diderot Paris 7