Maria Papadima is a child and adolescent psychotherapist based in London, UK. She trained at the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Association (IPCAPA) and works in an NHS crisis adolescent team in London, as well as privately, with young people and their families.

Rachel Acheson is a child and adolescent psychotherapist based in Holywood, Northern Ireland. She trained at the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Association (IPCAPA).

Nikolaos Tzikas is a child and adolescent psychotherapist based in Athens, Greece. He trained at the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Association (IPCAPA) and is a member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) and the Hellenic Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Society.

Editors x

List of contributors xii

Preface xvi

Acknowledgements xviii

Introduction 1

PART 1

1 Adolescence at the intersection of inner and outer realities: A conceptualisation 7

FLAVIA ANSALDO

2 The search for identity: Working therapeutically with adolescents in crisis 34

RACHEL ACHESON AND MARIA PAPADIMA

3 'Too late for me': The adolescent mental health crisis in time 62

JOCELYN CATTY

PART 2

4 Considering crisis and risk in psychoanalytic work with adolescents 85

MARIA PAPADIMA

5 Meanings of adolescent overdose 106

HILLEL MIRVIS

6 The multifaceted meanings of a symptom: A psychoanalytic exploration of self-harm in contemporary culture 120

MARIA PAPADIMA

7 Moving towards a psychoanalytic formulation when assessing the risk of suicide in adolescents in crisis 149

NIKOLAOS TZIKAS

PART 3

8 Reconfiguring adolescent-parent psychotherapy: Empowering relational dynamics to promote adolescent health and growth 171

RUTH SCHMIDT NEVEN

9 Reaching for the unreachable: Working with parents of adolescents who struggle to engage 187

VICTORIA HAYWARD AND PAUL BELL

10 Working with schools to support adolescents in crisis 206

RACHEL ACHESON AND CATHERINE CAMPBELL

11 Ripples of containment: How CAMHS teams manage anxiety in the midst of adolescent crisis 227

REBECCA BOLAM

12 Cries in crisis: Holding looked-after adolescents and their networks in mind 241

EFTYCHIA APOSTOLIDOU, VICTORIA NICOLODI, AND NIKOLAOS TZIKAS

PART 4

13 Brief psychodynamic psychotherapy for adolescents and their families in crisis: A pilot study 265

MARIA PAPADIMA, CATHERINE CAMPBELL, NIKOLAOS TZIKAS, AND FEMBE NANJI-ROWE

14 Playing with fire: Or how do we play when we're scared? the nature and function of play in psychotherapy with high-risk adolescents 293

KATE MILLS

15 'To dream is to live': The therapist's function for representation in work with at-risk adolescents 309

NIKOLAOS TZIKAS

Index 330