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From a Freudian point of view, the primary task of late adolescence is the consolidation of identity. This “identity” encompasses a sense of sexuality, competence, and autonomy. Peter Bios, the most prominent Freudian theorist on adolescence, identifies this as a second individuation process, akin to the separation/individuation process that takes place in early childhood. The achievement of a mature ego ideal, a newly refined and personally defined set of ideas about who one wishes to be and how one wishes to be, is an integral part of the consolidation of identity. It involves a complex integration of identifications from within and outside the family.
In the terms of psychosexual development, the integration of sexuality for the late adolescent involves the achievement of genital-ity. Genitality is the capacity to enjoy an emotionally and physically intimate relationship with a person of one's choosing. In order to do so, the late adolescent must come to terms with the fantasies and resolutions of early childhood concerning body and adult sexuality. Accepting that the parents have an exclusive sexual relationship is an important component of this. This brings up both pre-Oedipal and Oedipal issues. The arrival of puberty also necessitates that the adolescent accept that he or she has a mature adult body. Ownership of that body, including caring adequately for it—an aspect of identification with the early caretaker, is clearly a monumental stumbling block for Rachel T.
When we are introduced to her, Rachel is a young woman experiencing an enormous amount of difficulty achieving a late adolescent consolidation. The terrible friction in her household as she