Adolescence as a Phenomenon of the Field and Affection as a Vector of At-One-Ment in the Analytic Relationship

I believe that clinical work with adolescents provides extremely valuable contributions in the Field Theory area. The observation and care of adolescents has always made me think how growth is a painful process of separation from and rediscovery of the lost object in après-coup, how important it is for us analysts not to lose touch with our human gaze, and above all with the meaning of the affection that guides our clinical listening, especially when we are dealing with minors who are “hard to reach” (Joseph 1975). Therefore, I consider affection a genuine theoretical and technical prerequisite – I could say, a “parameter” – for emotionally contacting the adolescent in the symbolic and affective place where they happen to be: in other words, for fostering a unison. So, in this paper, I would like to try and set up a dialectic between the concepts of affection, unison (Bion 1962) and subjectivation in adolescence, understood as a field and group phenomenon.