Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Adolescents with Personality Disorders: A Case Example with a Focus on the Interpretative Process and Transference Analysis

ABSTRACT

In this paper, I focus on the nature and functions of the interpretive process in psychotherapy with adolescents with severe personality disorder. I will describe how the interpretive process in transference focused psychotherapy for adolescents provides affective containment and symbolic management of psychological conflict along with a shift toward the predominance of repression-based over primitive defenses. This process leads to a progressive resolution of identity diffusion. I will give illustrations of different phases of the interpretive process.

Acknowledgments

I owe my respectful gratitude to Alfons Icart, Teresa Ribalta, Lina Normandin, Luis Valenciano, Jordi Freixas and Frank Yeomans for making this work and paper possible. They have assisted me in matters related to the psychotherapeutic process and the review of the manuscript. Their wise comments, supervisions and valuable criticism have helped me to improve the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tuulikki Trias

Tuulikki Trias, M.D., Ph.D., is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and professor and supervisor of Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP and TFP-A) accredited by ISTFP. She is the Director of Centro Lapsi, in Barcelona, Spain.