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This book is written for 'counselors' of adolescents; the term counselor 'in a broad sense intended to include persons with training and experience from various disciplines who are working with adolescents in a professional role with the goal of helping them to deal with their problems more constructively'. This fact sets the tone of the book as well as the range of treatment modalities. In other words, though Dr. Sklansky is a training analyst of the Chicago Institute, the book is essentially written not for analysts but for a much broader professional group. This is not to say that analysts will not find the book enjoyable and readable. I certainly did.
The authors use as background for their comments the psychoanalytic framework and theories of development, and particularly the psychoanalytic understanding of the adolescent stage and process. They proceed to take the reader through the multiple vicissitudes of the problems of adolescents, problems that range from the minimally to the very seriously disturbed. Similarly their therapeutic approach, their therapeutic hints and suggestions range from milieu manipulation and supportive psychotherapy to insightful or uncovering forms of psychotherapy.
The authors have taken some pains to describe for their intended audience the earlier developmental processes influencing and leading to the adolescent stage. Naturally, in a book with this scope it has had to be done in a highly condensed manner. Thus occasional important aspects of personality development are simply glossed over; perhaps the best example is their treatment of the phallic Oedipal phase. Here, unfortunately, the complexity of the Oedipal development of girls is not referred to. In different chapters the authors give a good descriptive account of the characteristics of the ego of the adolescent, the typical regressive steps, ego defenses, etc. Then they describe the process of treatment of adolescents (perhaps we should say counseling of adolescen