Seite - 185 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits 185 procrastinated on visiting the gynecologist in order to miss the deadline for a possible abortion. However, Sarah is able to take up her gym teacher’s offer of help and advice to visit a group for pregnant women. Parental figures such as teachers, relatives or family friends can strengthen the adolescent’s inner parental images; we speak here of a “transference relationship” (Harris 2007, 248). The idea of an internal- ized parental couple or of parents and teachers who work together and constitute a vital couple indicates the establishment of an ethical inner system in the ado- lescent psyche. After all, this “inner family” with its masculine and feminine ele- ments gives the adolescent orientation in her further life. At the same time, a less emotional relationship with an advisory person (such as Sarah’s teachers) is very useful: they are able to offer advice that adolescents cannot accept from their own parents. At first, Sarah’s pregnancy seems to magically solve all her problems. She manages to pass her final exam in her fifth month of pregnancy, in spite of her bad grades in the previous semester. Here we can observe the vitalizing, activat- ing effect of pregnancy. Caring for more than her own self, Sarah now wishes to finish school before she gives birth. Her loving relationship to the impending baby lends her strength and energy, and she experiences none of the negative physical signs of pregnancy. If it is possible to have enough good in herself that a baby can grow there, then she can also have enough faith in her intelligence and strength to successfully pass her exam. Pregnancy often provides the impending parents with the strength to accomplish difficult tasks. Sarah immediately has a “total” relationship to her baby, stopping smoking and beginning to eat a more healthy diet. This self -care for her baby’s sake points to a good inner mother. In her inner world, Sarah carries the image of a loving, caring mother, from which she derives power and inner strength. Through her pregnancy, she experiences her “womanly” side – as if she were achieving a rec- onciliation with her own mother. She also manages to include her boyfriend (the baby’s father) in the pregnancy, taking him to the preparations for the birth and to the ultrasound test. Sarah’s relationship to the baby’s father withstands all turbulence. Together, they set up house in the grandfather’s apartment: he moves into a nursing home for their benefit, thus making room for a young generation. Since Sarah’s mother supports her financially and will take care of her baby, she can indeed free her daughter from many burdens. This constitutes a sign of respect for the young couple’s decision to have the baby and reparations for an early lack of care and affection towards Sarah. Case study: Babsi At the age of 16, Babsi became pregnant as a junior in high school. Her father comes from a conservative Arab culture, is a veterinarian and often travels for work. Her mother is a housewife, and both her older brothers have already moved