Abstract

CORCOS, Maurice. Bifocal Therapy in Adolescence. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2008, vol.37, suppl.1, pp.94-99. ISSN 0034-7450.

Introduction: Stemming from musings around the specificities of psychic functioning in adolescence, novel proposals have emerged regarding the possibility of a just as specific therapeutic framework. Bifocal therapy (proposed by Ph. Jeammet and developed by the author of this article) exemplifies one of these proposals. Two therapists intervene, each one in a different time and place: a consultant psychiatrist and a psychotherapist. Development: The author proposes a series of hypothesis on why adolescence does not adapt to traditional psychotherapeutic approaches, particularly when failures exist in the ability to mentalize, to maintain a differentiation between inner and outer realities and a tendency to act is clearly present. He also explores the difficult territory of the environment’s concurrence, specially the family, and the vicissitudes that surround the adolescent that requires treatment,shedding evidence on the inevitable intrication of elements from external reality with those that belong to the therapeutic relationship. Finally, he defines and explains the functions of the consultant psychiatrist and the psychotherapist in bifocal therapy.

Keywords : Adolescence; bifocal therapy; consultant psychiatrist; psychotherapist.

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