Page - 83 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

Psychosexual development in puberty 83 Through his stepfather’s participation, James was one of the five especially capable climbers, and was proud of his accomplishment. He was the son of this good climber – no longer a fatherless son, but instead a boy wishing to become like his (step)father. James wanted to take the entrance exam for a demanding technical school. After he passed, H. and James’ math teacher suggest he study more demanding material than the others, in order to have better chances during his first year there. James takes up this suggestion and fulfills his extra assignments with distinction. Concluding remarks In this case study, we can only make conclusions as to James’ inner world and inner conflicts in hindsight, since we have no access to data from his therapy sessions. We are interested here in the importance of his teacher H. and her clear position with regard to his situation at school. H.’s special capacity to empathize with James and be moved by his psychic pain, mentally digest it and then speak with him about it constituted a decisive help for him. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he felt understood and held, while simultaneously experiencing the expec- tation that he must fulfill his assignments and keep to the rules. H. succeeded in constructing a support system for herself: in the Work Discussion and individual supervision, she could speak of her feelings, fears and hopes, so that she felt less alone. She also succeeded in gaining the full support from the school director and informed her on each individual step she took. It proved especially difficult to obtain the requisite collaboration from fellow teachers. It is unclear to what extent the decision to keep James at school also gave his mother courage to take him in again. The close contact between James’ mother and H. – when he refused to attend school, their contact was daily – was pre- sumably helpful to both sides and enabled a close cooperation, preventing many potential escalations. Case studies often describe dramatic developments with unhappy ends, where an adolescent falls lower and lower, gets into trouble with the law, becomes vio- lent or is committed to a psychiatric clinic. Positive developments are no less dramatic and moving, but are often manifested in small or even minute incidents and sequences. Important decisions can be made in short conversations during a break, and discussions of life and suicide may occur between other events. Small encouragements can vitiate feelings of loneliness and desperation, when the ado- lescent’s psychic pain succeeds in moving his teacher. In retrospect, such difficult but often life -determining acts of help may seem completely simple and casual. In conclusion, I quote an appreciation of H.’s psychoanalytic -pedagogic work from James’ parents. After many critical assessments of Austrian and German teachers, this report demonstrates that H.’s enthusiasm helped James to find his way back to school and the classroom. H. writes: As I already mentioned, James’ mother and I had made an appointment to meet. James was in Krakow with his class from the technical school, and Mrs. Frost was accompanied by Timon, James’ younger brother, and his stepfather