Treating Adolescents: There is Always a Mother

Distinct from psychoanalysis with adults, clinical work with teens has specific pitfalls and predictable resistances. Defining typical adolescent behaviors, examining current neuroscience findings about the developing teenage brain and its concomitant relationship to seemingly maladaptive behavior, and presenting clinical examples of the crucial inclusion of parents, specifically the patient’s mother, in the treatment, Dr D’Amato hopes to outline a general framework in which to understand and treat adolescents.

Barbara D’Amato, PsyaD, LP, has been treating adolescents, children, and families for over 30 years. She is on the faculty of CMPS, NYGSP, and BGSP and is Director of the CMPS Extension Division.