Psychoanalysis of the Young Adult: Theory and Technique

THEODORE JACOBS BEGAN THE PANEL with a description of a twenty-three-year-old patient who sought treatment because of neurotic fears, obsessional worries, and inability to choose an independent way of life. This patient, the Wolf Man, was one of the many young adults and late adolescents whom Freud treated. In essence, their clinical material provided the foundation for the theory and technique of psychoanalysis. Nonetheless, as Jacobs pointed out, little specific attention has been directed to the problems of the young adult (18–25) as distinct from those of the adolescent or mature adult. This panel is the first in the history of the American Psychoanalytic Association to do so.

Jacobs then raised several questions for the panelists to consider: Are there therapeutically relevant subphases within young adulthood? What are the significant differences, if any, faced by men and women in this age group? How do current societal and cultural issues influence young adults as they interact with the compromise formations that are solutions to internal conflicts?

Jacobs spoke of the developmental tasks of the young adult—the consolidation of ego capacities that is required for life and career decisions, referring to Adatto's conceptualization of the changes that take place during this period: (1) movement from the narcissistic self-involvement of adolescence to more intimate and enduring object relations; (2) integration of sexual development with other personality changes, with the firm establishment of sexual identity, and the formation of an irreversible sexual position; (3) development of greater breadth of ego functions with behavior less governed by conflict (as adolescent conflicts are reduced in intensity) and more energy available for new interests and activities, with greater tolerance of frustration (character, as we have come to understand that term, being