Adolescent Psychoanalysis

The Deconstruction and Construction of Adolescents and Their Analysts

 

Chapter 13

Part 2

 

Christine is a Type B adolescent. The following notes are of an early session and are divided into sections. Christine illustrates a very complex Type B adolescent. These sessions notes are presented for a variety of reasons, the primary one being to illustrate a Type B adolescent. That she is a Type B adolescent says nothing about the severe difficulties she has. Christine is a scattered, sometimes delusional, funny girl, who is socially experienced, has a history of both a casual sexual life, a large amount of drug use, all wrapped in a very ‘hip’ personality. She also has immense problems with her mother and other relatives. Nevertheless, I apparently formed, early on, a constructive and open relationship with Christine. She does seem to be able to relate to me well and is not self-conscious about discussing herself.

 

 

 

“So what’s up?” I asked.

 

“I had family therapy yesterday and we went to after to go eat and I got to talk to my best friend and my girl friend on the phone”, she said.

 

“Are they the same people?” I asked

 

“No. My best friend’s a guy. His 18^th birthday’s coming up and he’s going to come over on one of my home passes so we can go out. My girlfriend just came back from Provo on Saturday, so I’m going to see her this weekend.” She said.

 

“Is this girlfriend girlfriend or a friend who’s a girl?” I asked.

 

“Girlfriend girlfriend. (pause) I don’t know. I love the house.” She said.

 

“I’m a bit confused. How did we get from girlfriend to house. Anything in particular to account for that?” I asked.

 

“What do you mean?” She asked.

 

“I have an idea, and this will probably sound weird. You love the girlfriend and she is like the house?” I suggested.

 

“I don’t know. I love how it’s so homey and everyone gets along so much. The staff are not rude or stuck up or power hungry. I really like it here, she said.

 

“At XXX residential program the staff were just not too good?” I asked.

 

“Yeah.” She said.

 

“Or power trippers? Or…” I said.

 

“Just bitches all around.” She said.

 

“Did you meet your girlfriend there?” I asked

 

“Yeah. We got in trouble for being in a relationship which is kind of retarded because you’re allowed to have relationships with guys on the guys campus, but girls aren’t allowed to have relationships on the girls campus. We’re not supposed to be in relationships. We got in trouble for it.” She said.

 

“So if you hooked up with some guy, that would be okay?” I asked.

 

“Well, hooked up, I don’t know. But if we’re going out and considered boyfriend and girlfriend, then that’s okay. But if I have a girlfriend, that’s not okay.” She said.

 

 

Silence

 

“You’re my therapist aren’t you? I heard that you’re my therapist. I also heard you’re a doctor. I heard you do it all.” She said.

 

I laughed.

 

“That’s what they said.” She said laughing.

 

“Okay, let’s say I do a lot of things. I also do the windows, …” I joked.

 

She laughed.

 

“Maybe I come across to you like one of the staff you hated at XXX residential program, or something like that, or secret power-tripper?” I said.

 

She laughed.

 

Silence

 

“By the way, last night J  (social worker) called me up, which she pretty much had to. Usually what we do is confidential unless I was convinced you wanted to knock somebody off or off yourself, or get hurt by someone—-then what we talk about is different. However, the reason J called me had to do with you telling her stories of you getting raped at one point or another. What was with that? If you don’t mind my asking?” I asked.

 

“I don’t know. She asked my mom and my mom was like … it’s because some on the guys at school have been touching me and hitting on me, and it freaks me out because I have been raped. It freaks me out and I told my mom about it. I went to the bathroom and when I came back and they were just talking about it. I was like where did this conversation come from? Then J asked if XXX residential program reported it? I said. I don’t know. I told them. I didn’t really talk about it. We had a trauma group and one of the therapists was like you have to share your story with the group. It took me a really long time to do it, but I did. I’ve never shared it with my therapist, my individual therapist because it was the same thing. I didn’t trust him. I didn’t like him at all.” She said.

 

“What kinds of things made you not… I know you gave me examples, but were there any particular things?” I asked.

 

“Just, he didn’t listen. Whenever I told him something. I would tell him something that’s bothering me and he’d be like ‘Okay, that’s interesting.’ You know what I mean? He didn’t listen to me. If staff brings something to him, then he’ll talk about it. We’d have to talk about it. I didn’t like him.” She said.

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