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Difficulties in the relationship between mother and daughter lead to the daughter's maladaptation to internal and environmental pressures. A useful modality for treating this early adolescent difficulty is a mother-daughter group. When a group consisting of four mothers and their daughters was formed, the pattern of resistance prior to the group's coalescence typified the fourteen-year-old girl's struggle with her mother over independence and separation. During the sessions, both parent and child showed ambivalence toward breaking their ties, with accompanying guilt and anxiety and denial by mutual clinging. As each dyad merged with the group, its inner struggle lessened. There was, however, a pseudo coalescence between dyads—a resistance to confrontation. Mothers frequently hindered their daughters' independence because of their own emotional needs. The daughter's problem was often a disguise for the mother's, and her disturbed behavior a support for the mother's inadequacy. In the group, as one pair began to face its conflict, other pairs gained the courage to look for their own pathological interaction and to search for personal growth.