ABSTRACT
This chapter presents two case studies of adolescents who were treated with a focused short-term psychodynamic psychotherapeutic treatment, as part of a research programme aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy in childhood depression within the National Health Sector (NHS). These patients (Maria, a 14-year-old girl and Peter, a 12-year-old boy) were representative of the young people seen as part of the larger research study, which, it suggests, illustrates the relevance of brief interventions for adolescents within the NHS. The research study suggests the following: First, There is evidence supporting the use of individual short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy with this age group. Second, it may be possible for trained therapists to deliver effectively this focused form of therapy, with the help of a Manual. Third, treatment also appears to be exportable to wider settings with culturally diverse populations. The basic clinical training of the psychotherapists who took part in the research study was that of an open-ended psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
