Abstrato

A therapeutic dilemma: symbolic versus literal approach whilst working with adolescent patients, shown with the use of clinical examples.

Maria Barbara Lokaj, Maria Teresa Aydemir

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a dilemma often faced by psychotherapists from various therapeutic schools: a choice between a symbolic and literal approach. Authors, Jungian Analysts and Clinical Psychologists with long-term clinical experience, focused in their article on that how this dilemma manifests in analytical psychotherapy of adolescent patients. In order to illustrate this issue, Authors introduced two clinical examples from their analytical work with adolescents. The article has been prepared based on the material presented by the Authors during the 23rd International Conference on Adolescent Medicine & Child Psychology “Unveiling Novel Therapies and Developmental Strategies to Help Children Grow Better”, organised by Conference Series on the 28th-29th of September 2017, in Berlin. Some of the patients' data has been changed due to confidentiality.