Contemporary Psychoanalysis in a Pediatric Hemodialysis Unit Development of a Mentalization-Based Group Intervention for Adolescent Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

Psychoanalysis has a rich tradition of linking mind and body and exploring the most intricate aspects of their reciprocal relationship in the context of development. Historically, child psychoanalysis has contributed significantly to the understanding of the impact of physical illness on personality development. As a result, a wealth of clinical insight informs contemporary efforts to adapt existing psychoanalytic knowledge to the challenges of specialized environments such as schools and hospitals. The renal project at the Anna Freud Centre, described in this essay, explores the possibility of integrating aspects of psychoanalytic practice such as analysis of defense and the contemporary psychodynamic concept of mentalization as described by Fonagy and colleagues (Fonagy et al., 2002). The project seeks to do this by developing a short-term group intervention targeting a puzzling and urgent mind-body problem: ensuring adherence to medical regimens essential to proper management of a chronic, life-threatening condition The urgent search for ways of effectively integrating therapeutic modalities in order to design more cost- and time-efficient treatments for chronic illnesses should motivate the psychodynamically oriented professional to consider all the tools in his or her repertoire and promote further the testing of new therapeutic and theoretical approaches.