“You've lost me, you've lost other people in the group”: Transference-countertransference matrix in the termination of difficult adolescent patients in group therapy

Abstract

This paper, based on two year-long psychotherapy group consisting of six female adolescents, focuses on transference-countertransference reactions in group psychotherapy with difficult female adolescents who are facing the loss of their parents through AIDS. A clinical case is presented to illustrate the complications in the Termination phase with bereaved adolescent patients. The author suggests using Ferenczi's therapeutic techniques in treating adolescents.