Page - 221 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits 221 spirit: he sank his head onto her shoulders, hurting her arms. She was persecuted by a black man. She sprang from the balcony into a propeller that propelled her far away. In the pond, she found a skeleton without arms and found out that this girl also had jumped down and that the propeller had severed her arms. I asked her whether she was telling the story or was drawn into it. Chrisse: Both, I can see the story from a bird’s perspective and can see the figures in it from behind. Sometimes I have to laugh, too, when the maiden looks at herself in the mirror and thinks she’s so beautiful. There is also a high - -ranking warrior who is head over heels in love with her. But at some point I lose interest, then I only want to sleep and never wake up again. I tried to discuss with her whether we could work together, whether she wanted to come to me and stay alive. Discussion Every detail in Chrisse’s account points to a fragmentation of her thought: the snow maiden is occupied by a spirit, the head sinks into the shoulders and the arms are severed from the body, she jumps into a propeller that is turning quickly. She displaces her suicidal thoughts onto her best friend, who wishes to give a farewell dinner doubling as Chrisse’s birthday party. Intermittently, she describes her loneliness and desperation. As I explained earlier, in this case it should not be the analyst’s main task to reveal her fragmented fantasy world or establish links between the fragments, but instead to actively support Chrisse’s reconnection to reality. Does she recognize whether she wishes to come to me due to her grave illness? Can she recognize that she needs help? Second preliminary session In the meantime, Chrisse had been tested by a psychologist in the psychiatric ward and taken part in a family therapy session. Chrisse’s mother accompanied her to my office; Chrisse was holding the letter with her diagnosis in her hands. In the waiting room, I discussed organizational matters with the mother, who informed me that her daughter would presumably be admitted for in -patient treatment at the clinic. From my notes: Chrisse sat down in the consulting room. It was clear to me that I should not treat her as a mere object of her diagnosis, but should let her be the active one. Reading the diagnosis with difficulty, she passed it over to me. I would not take it from her, instead saying that I was interested in what the diagnosis meant to her.