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How to treat the adolescent's mental problems is a question that has been asked for years, at least in Finland. Much thought has also been given to the funding and resources needed for the adolescent's treatment, particularly how much should be invested in psychotherapy, and what kind of psychotherapy is needed for a good treatment outcome.
Matti Keinänen and Päivikki Engblom have taken on the challenge to answer these questions in their book on psychotherapy for young adults. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 25-30 are given little attention from the public mental-health services. Municipal psychiatry concentrates on adolescents and adults but gives little thought to the group in-between, that is. young adults. In the public system “adulthood” in Finland starts at 18 years of age, and by rule, a person after that age is transferred to outpatient clinics and hospital wards designed for the treatment of adults. However, the needs and problems of a young adult differ from those of adults and therefore often go unnoticed or are misunderstood. Young adults who are students are better provided for. For University students, there is a special health care system in Finland, the Students' Health Foundation. It specialises in students' problems and in taking care of both the somatic and mental illnesses. Matti Keinänen and Päivikki Engblom have both worked for years in the Students' Health Foundation's mental-health unit in Turku and thus have had a superb possibility to study the special areas in treating young adults, what kinds of treatment is needed, and what the goals of treatment should be. The authors share with us their vast experience and theoretical knowledge of the particularities of young adult's psychotherapy.
The book is divided into four parts: (I) “The development and structure of the personality”; (II) “The psychodynamic treatment process from the developmental viewpoint”; (III) “The clinical psychotherapy process”; and (IV) “Creating meaning and the fun