Working with the parents of children and adolescents in therapy: the parents' resistances

This article describes how the psychodynamic therapist can collaborate productively with the parents of the children and adolescents undergoing therapy, even when it is the parents who are resisting the treatment; it clarifies some of the difficulties and frustrations that the therapist encounters in such cases, i.e. dealing with adults who resist and are not even his patients, and tries to explain how to understand these parents and empathize with their problems. The article explores the reasons for the anger that parents direct against the therapist and discusses appropriate techniques to improve the positive therapeutic relationship with them. Some clinical cases provide examples of parents who are unable to set limits, or who are depraved of their children, or whose psychopathology interferes with their children's therapy. Finish by providing some useful advice.