ABSTRACT
This chapter aims at the containment of borderline adolescents as they begin or undergo treatment in a therapeutic community setting. Importantly, this containment includes the complex task of understanding the meaning of the adolescent's symptoms and his or her mental states and social behaviour. Sometimes, adolescents—both "normal" and severely disturbed adolescents—appear static behind a wall of powerful resistances or defences, and sometimes they surge forwards in what seems a haphazard and contradictory way. The task in treating such adolescents requires an understanding that change does or can occur at any time. The chapter discusses three clinical examples of borderline adolescents to explore more fully these theoretical ideas and their use within the treatment setting of the Adolescent Unit. The three cases, Anne, Joan, and Maureen, illustrate recovery from psychotic functioning and intrapsychic growth, with concomitant improvement in social relationships and functioning.
