Incest Fantasies and Self-Destructive Acts

Mainstream analysts working in the Jungian tradition have largely neglected adolescents. Mara Sidoli and Gustav Bovensiepen remedy that omission by showing how and why psychological and physical abuse suffered by young children erupts in violent and destructive behavior against the self and others. Using clinical material, they establish the link between archetypal imagery, disturbed behavior, and instinctual drive.

Drawing from all schools of analytical psychology, the authors, along with several associates, focus mainly on severe neurotic disturbances and behavioral problems occurring in adolescence. Because most disturbances originate in the body, the contributors concentrate on self-destructive behavior: suicide, self-mutilation, and other self-damaging acts. Focused heavily on the treatment of these adolescents, the text has selections from an international group of contributors, providing diverse accounts of both theoretical and technical approaches to therapy. The case histories illustrate the relationship between the analyst and the adolescent patient as it develops in consultation. Interweaving the concepts of Jung, Freud, and others makes this volume a unique contribution to contemporary psychoanalysis. It will be of sustained interest to psychoanalysts, child psychotherapists, social workers, psychiatrists, and psychologists.