Manic defences in a mourning process of a group of adolescents.
This paper describes the central role of manic defences in the process of working through mourning in a group of bereaved adolescents. Two factors were found to facilitate the effective use of manic defences in working through mourning in the group: (a) manic defences were given a legitimate and important place in the group, and were regarded as agents of life in the ongoing dealings with death; and (b) a certain degree of introspection was always maintained, like a window not allowed to be shut completely, to allow an attenuated encounter with difficult emotions. The use of manic defences, combined with these two factors, allowed flexible two-way movement between the schizoparanoid and the depressive positions, hence facilitated the working through of mourning in the group. The process described in this paper took place in a group of bereaved adolescents. Twenty sessions of one and a half hours were directed by two clinical psychologists, as part of the support offered by the Department of Rehabilitation of the Israeli Ministry of Defence to bereaved families in Israel.
Toder-Goldin
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D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001601:Bereavement; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D013811:Psychotherapeutic Processes; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*; D013561:Symbolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome