The Adolescent and the Psychotherapist

'Peter Wilson has found a way of both practising and describing a version of psychotherapy with young people that is entirely intelligible and accessible, inspired and inspiring, tentative and confident, humorous and compassionate. With no jargon, and no grandiose claims. Psychoanalysis with young people as a most appealing improvisation, not the earnest routine ideology of virtue that it is all too often presented as being.'

Adam Phillips, Child & Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, essayist, author and literary critic

'This timely and compassionate book draws deeply on the author's extensive experience of working with young people. It stands as an accessible and much-needed corrective to today’s trend toward manualised approaches and prescriptive action. Instead, the book advocates for open listening, honest self-awareness, and the importance of working as an ally to the developing ‘self’ of the young person who is experiencing conflict. Such work is less about delivering treatment—less about ‘doing’—and more about being alongside: showing interest, recognition, and respect for the natural maturational processes the author so insightfully explores.'

Unique in its depth and perspective, this is an essential and scholarly resource on adolescence.

Paul van Heeswyk, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist

‘Wilson describes the experience of being and working with adolescence in an unique and compelling way which will resonate with all who work with this age group’

Professor Jeremy Holmes, Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist