ABSTRACT
Psychotherapy has been studied extensively, and factors relevant to successful outcome such as (among others) motivation, a good therapeutic alliance, a skilled therapist, and “mutuality of expectation” (Heine and Trosman, 1960, pp. 275–278) between patient and therapist have been identified. Psychotherapy with adolescents, however, presents special problems. Not only do parents have to support treatment by encouraging it, but they also have to pay for it. At the same time, they are unlikely to see an immediate benefit, and in fact, bringing their son or daughter for therapy involves potential loss and narcissistic injury. Will they allow the adolescent to attach to someone else, that is, will they encourage the process of separation? Parents whose children are having problems tend to feel guilty and ashamed about what they unconsciously perceive to be their failure, and, consequently, they behave defensively in various ways. They may dump the kid on us, or conversely, try to control us as they have tried to control the child. In fact, there will always be some element of parental resistance, for the parents recognize at some level that a successful treatment will confirm the notion that they have failed to some extent in their parental roles.
