Seite - 206 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

206 Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits withdrawal and stiffness was meant to demonstrate his irritation with me, since I had rendered him so young. I had the feeling of touching an open wound when he reacted so strongly and turned away from me; indeed, I found it difficult to finish my sentence. With his passivity, he presumably induced (or seduced) his mother to treat him like a baby and serve as his personal helper, getting all manner of things done for him. Because of this, it was important that I refuse his passive offer. He showed that he had grave problems and urgently required analysis in order to develop. At this point, I was skeptical whether I could truly depend on my own feelings and countertransferential reactions. At the end of the first session I emphasized that only he could decide whether he wished to continue with me. Helping him would mean encouraging him to attend therapy, but also to allow him to determine the further details. I was very careful in discussing the possibility of his coming again, although I knew that if he stayed away this would drive him back into his fortress. His hesitation could signify that he was absolutely convinced nobody wanted to be with him and nobody would ever understand him. It was important not to pose questions, but instead to attempt to understand his behavior as communication. I found it very helpful to discuss Mark with Betty Joseph in London, and whether my hypotheses about what his behavior meant were plausible. Betty Joseph (1986a) described the analytic process as a “total situation” that can be understood in the here -and -now as transference and counter- transference. In Vienna, my colleagues were skeptical as to whether I could come to understand his inner conflicts and difficult relationship to his parents without resorting to drawings, speech and games. Hypotheses regarding Mark’s communication through movement Here is an example of how I tried to find out whether Mark was confirming or correcting my assumptions and attempts to decipher his movements. He came to one session a few minutes early, after arriving too late for the previ- ous session. He sat down, leaned back, putting both arms on the armrests and sit- ting in a more relaxed manner than the day before. After a short pause, I remarked that he must be noticing what a difference it made to come back already the sub- sequent day without having a gap of several days between sessions. He listened attentively, then looking at me and turning away, gazed out the window. Mark reacted to my interpretation with two different behaviors. He listened attentively, looked at me and seemed to agree – but as soon as he took in my words, he turned away and looked out the window. Could his direct eye contact with me mean that he was expressing how glad he was to be with me again? Or when he then looked away, that he felt ashamed? And did his looking away signify that he had inimical feelings towards me because I showed him just how