In a psychoanalytically-oriented inpatient unit for adolescents with severe emotional disorders, acting-out can at times be most effectively coped with by way of an act of suspension. In this paper we follow the development of the concept of acting-out, explore its operative meaning within an adolescent inpatient unit, and finally arrive at the means of coping with it which are necessitated within such a setting. Suspension is extensively discussed with emphasis on the conceptual dilemmas it presents the therapist, as well as its implications for the individual treatment of the severely disturbed adolescent.