Exploring adolescence and parenting teenagers: a blog by Maria Papadima, a child and adolescent psychotherapist working in London.
Child, young person, or adolescent?
A recent LinkedIn post by researcher and social worker Nicholas Marsh made me mull over issues of terminology. What’s the…Read More »
Parents of adolescents: holding on, letting go
Only by being really difficult can the child discover whether the parents are resilient and robust – worth having. If…Read More »
Adolescents and perfectionism: some psychoanalytic ideas
“Now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good”. (John Steinbeck, East of Eden) Adolescents…Read More »
Is pessimism the new normal for teenagers?
The media discussion on the contemporary ‘adolescent mental health crisis’ carries on. The more I read about it (there’s hardly…Read More »
The looping effect of toxic masculinity
Around 2015, the (previously obscure) term ‘toxic masculinity’ settled into cultural discourse. At first it described a style of masculinity…Read More »
The cultural elephant in the room for this generation’s adolescents: smartphones and social media
Recently, I attended a talk by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, organised by the grassroots parent group that’s sprouting up in…Read More »
Good enough parenting in the face of self harm
What’s it like for a parent to discover their adolescent son or daughter self-harms? It can be daunting to keep…Read More »
The problem is not the mental health tools
For most people seeking psychotherapy, there are many questions that come up for discussion. But increasingly today, right at the…Read More »
Uncovering the layers of the term identity: a psychoanalytic perspective
Ever since identity became established as a key explanatory concept in political discourse, its slow but steady increase of influence…Read More »
The riddle of self harm
Why do some adolescents self-harm? …But before trying to answer this, what does the term ‘self-harm’ cover? We assume we…Read More »
When and how is a mental health diagnosis useful?
Increasingly, in our culture, we find ourselves framing our experiences through the lens of psychiatric and mental health concepts. This…Read More »
Returning to the adolescent doldrums … low motivation during the teenage years
The adolescent years can prompt discussions about extremes: Is the teenager safe? Are they taking things too far? Have they…Read More »
What do adolescents need? Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness
In the early childhood years, much focus is on milestones and basic needs: is the toddler taking first steps? Have…Read More »
Not sure where to start with family meals? Begin with observation
As I write this, we are just finishing with the holiday season. Holidays typically mean extended time with family and…Read More »
Three types of school avoidance
School attendance, and the other side of the same coin, school refusal / school avoidance, are increasingly discussed in the…Read More »
Exploring the ‘two different things called therapy’
… (inspired by Kristian Kemtrup’s recent blog post) In the ever-evolving field of mental health and therapy, clarity and precision…Read More »
Recent research on the alarming rise in adolescent mental health diagnoses
Some interesting though troubling information comes out of a recent UCL-led study, published in August 2023 in Psychological Medicine. This…Read More »Boredom in adolescence: Never the right balance
I was recently thinking about boredom in adolescence, a phase where a Goldilocks scenario seems the norm: there’s either too…Read More »
Adolescents’ wish for a mental health diagnosis: what does it offer
Adolescence, a phase with so many emotional, academic, social, sexual, and cognitive changes, often leaves parents and teenagers feeling unsure:…Read More »
The driver and the back seat passenger: giving space to the irrational, dreaming self
I’ve been enjoying the podcast ‘Ordinary unhappiness’ hosted by Abby Kluchin and Patrick Blanchfield, an exploration of psychoanalysis and much…Read More »