ABSTRACT
The analyst’s view of the function of assessment and of his part in enabling the adolescent to understand what is wrong is important in the success or failure of the assessment process. Assessment means judgment and prediction. It implies knowing what to take seriously and when to be concerned and knowing how to listen to what the adolescent is saying. The experience of assessment for the adolescent need not rely on the special ability of one analyst or another to engage him; the application of what we know about adolescent disorders and the anxieties attached to them can enable us to encourage the adolescent to take an active part in the assessment process without feeling that we may harm him if we allow him to know what is going on. There is a vast difference between making use of the assessment procedure and expecting or demanding that the adolescent tell us everything. From our experience, most adolescents who are sent or come for help are relieved if their emotional state is taken seriously, even if this increases their anxiety about the extent of their abnormality. For them, it is essential to feel that their anxieties and fears have been acknowledged and understood and that their concerns about themselves have not been dismissed or misunderstood.
