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The divergence of clinical psychoanalytic theory and metapsychology has been described by many authors and perhaps most elaborately by George Klein (1976). This divergence is probably most extreme during the stage of development of early adolescence. Although there are a number of well-articulated psychoanalytic theories of adolescent development (Bios, 1962a; Jacobson, 1964; Erikson, 1968), there is certainly not a coherent clinical theory of psychoanalytic treatments at this stage. At best, technique is described in terms of modifications of the adult model of psychoanalysis.
In this paper I will be suggesting a model of analytic treatment of the early adolescent drawn from a formulation of development based on object relations theory. I will begin by describing the clinical presentation of two early adolescents who showed marked pathological regressions. A formulation of their pathology will be presented based on Melanie Klein's concept of the paranoidschizoid position. The implications of this formulation of these adolescents' treatments will be discussed. Finally, I will suggest ways in which this approach applies more generally to psychoanalytic treatment of the early adolescent.
The concept of a normative regression in early adolescence has been described from multiple vantage points: ego structure, drives, a second separation-individuation phase, a reworking of the oedipal complex, and object relations. (Katan, 1951; A. Freud, 1958; Blos, 1962a; Jacobson, 1964). Where the normal adolescent during