L'adolescence comme « moment limite ». Entre rupture et continuité

Adolescence can be viewed as to either a specific period of time introducing a sudden break into previous development or a critical moment of developmental tuning-in. Psychoanalysis considers adolescence as an auspicious moment during which the unconscious and its psychodynamics can be revealed. As such, the period of adolescence represents a particular clinical phase speaking each time of a unique history made of the desire that brings the adolescent face to face with the actuality of castration, and exposes him or her to major signifiers. As far as adolescence mobilizes founding psychodynamic processes, it can be considered as a critical “border period” characterized by continuous remodeling. Hence, a psychotic breakdown at this age can either spontaneously resolve or turn out to mark the beginning of a full-blown adult psychosis. In this article, two clinical vignettes will be used to show that, by metaphorizing parental identifications, adolescence plays a key role in symbolization processes.