When working with students in the 18-30 age-range in a University counselling service, I became aware that in many cases the central emotional issue for these young people was one of finding a sense of identity in relation to their parents. It seemed to me that the transition from adolescence to adulthood, which they were trying to negotiate, could be conceptualised usefully in an oedipal framework.

This paper is an attempt to link together clinical experience and theoretical formulations in a way which I found helpful in my work with this age-group. One case is considered in detail to illustrate the main theme of the paper.