ABSTRACT
Alfie is one of the former patients who took part in the longitudinal follow-up study of heroin users. Alfie put himself well outside the protective wall of human community, as Jung calls it, if by human community they mean conventional society. If someone has decided they want to stop injecting heroin, it is perfectly possible to achieve this without medical supervision. Alfie's experience shows that someone with ego strength and determination can achieve it on their own. While people are growing up they need to take risks and meet challenges and they will find them at any cost. Alfie's therapist understood that adolescents need to throw over the traces, and at the same time, as a psychiatrist, he was prepared to stand his ground on treatment decisions. This is an example of the paradoxical effect of what AA calls 'tough love' on the part of the therapist.
