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The vicissitudes of a group of psychotherapy with adolescent patients, from its foundation to just over one year of work, bring to the attention of the conductor and of the observer of the group the suffered subject of the absence of the other. Depending on the analysed matter, and therefore at different levels, in this paper they retrace, listening also to their own countertransference, the trouble and urgency to match depressive and deadly experiences linked to absence and loss. Far from regarding the matter as depending only on the patients, the conductor and the observer ask themselves about the drives that have supported and influenced the birth and the definition of this group, which shows working features of its own, which are described in here. Then the hypothesis is suggested that a "joint" among different facts (such as the lack of a shared group culture in the institution where the group was born, the often small number of participants, the histories of the patients scattered with dropouts and also the tasks of adolescent development itself) have resulted in and allowed the group, if not to work through the matter of the absence of the other, at least to push on presenting it in different times and with different languages (interactions among participants, actings out, movie storytelling,...), aiming to expand increasingly broader areas of thinkability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human sense of smell is an area which has been under estimated, especially in psychotherapy. Recently, an increasing body of ground-breaking evidence has demonstrated the crucial role that odors play in our lives. Most importantly for the topic of the present paper, each individual produces a unique odor signature which is able to communicate -- mostly subconsciously -- awide range of social information (e.g., emotions, health status, age) to conspecifics. Nowadays, there is an ever-increasing number of people delivering psychotherapies over internet as a practical alternative to traditional methods. However, we need to consider the limitations linked to the non-verbal domain on the analytic dialogue. The aim of the present paper is to focus on the role of the sense of smell as a medium for conveying important social information within a group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the author examines the events that involved the population in this long pandemic from the point of view of group dynamics, in particular assuming to be linked to the fifth basic assumption BaM, Me-ness the appearance of nonrational behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the characteristics of clinical work done outside the consulting room at home with adolescents. According to the group-analytic perspective, the contribution intends to highlight the complexity of the intervention by grasping its multiple psychosocial levels. The two clinical cases are described both through the two dreams of the adolescents and through the clinical gaze of the two therapists. During the work, in fact, the therapists shared both professional and personal experiences, possibly related to their professional role in a social work environment. This sharing was subsequently made also in other group contexts, to broaden the resonances and associations about clinical activity with adolescents. That is, the therapists have built associations with some other colleagues both in a small group on the Third Sector and in the median-institutional group of the Observatory. The text, therefore, allows both different possible readings, and the possibility of broadening the thinkability of the object of reflection, which is the group. Through a double observation point, this reflection is addressed, therefore, both to the group of adolescents and to that of professionals who work in these contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the experience of Infant Observation as central for analytical training, because capable of developing the therapist's ability to "observe to see" and his contact with his inner child. It also predisposes him to listening to his own countertransference in the relationship with every other-than-himself within a relational game full of meanings. It emerges from the paper how the concept of training-transformation connotes the entire experience, transversally covering all the minds involved. The feeling of the observer, with his own internal setting, the observed child and the parental functions, involved within the observation field, are modified. The colleagues' group mind is also transformed and it takes in the observer's experience in order to reread it and to ascribe new and broader meanings to it. It is clear how observing and feeling the child in the context allows to become aware of his development path, by experiencing it live. The proximity to Valeria during her first year of life allowed the observer to witness the passage from the original experience of fragility and dependence from her mother, even with the contribution of her own acting, to the slow and progressive structuring of an Ego at the beginning, guaranteed by I-you relations hand in hand with the surfacing of archaic defences. During the Infant Observation the function of the child's skin and the progressive integration between soma, psyche and affectivity were central, even in the appearance of symptoms of discomfort within primary relationships. It was possible to witness Valeria's sensory and motor-praxic development, parallel to the verbal one and the maturation of cognitive abilities, of the imitative skill and of what appeared to be a rising theory of mind. Routines and social development have also appeared. The reflection on the construct of attachment was crucial throughout all the path. Taken as a whole, the article shows how the Infant Observation involves a constant inner work within the observer, a reading and rereading of the countless elements of the field of observation such as sensations, emotions, thoughts, doubts, fears looking for a plot and a sense. A cardinal aspect regards how to portray the "after" and the greetings, the possibility to part with the other keeping good thoughts, with confidence in him and his resources. A phase of mourning is necessary, being a source of profound teachings and internal metamorphosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short paper offers an introduction to the use of psychodynamically oriented group therapy in treating pathological addiction. The current forms of addiction are rooted in narcissistic frailty, a condition in which individuals often resort to various forms of addiction in an attempt to counterbalance a frail and vulnerable Self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recurrent condition of non-existence as defence to survive traumatic abuse creates the distortion in the meaning of the dependence from the object. To save a part of the Self from the risk of being annihilated the victim dissociates significant parts of the affective experience, taking refuge in a condition of non-psychic life comparable to agony, learning to cohabit with death psychic areas. The experience suffered de-signified and non-representable brings with it an insufficient development of the Self affective nucleus and a distorted sense of morality. In the paper will be demonstrated the propulsive value of the dissociated material. According to Bromberg's model it is the therapist eye that can catch the hidden value. The setting issue is the central question in the treatment of abused patients and the author consider the heterogeneous group as a suitable setting for the treatment of these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What do we see when we observe a psychodynamic group with adolescents? The present paper tries to put in evidence three possible observational perspectives: centered on the single-case, on the group as a totality and on the intersubjetive interactions. The three points of view do not exclude each other and, if they are integrated, new hypothesis can be opened on the interrelations between individual and group functioning. The observation represents the main tool to understand and explore the group process while working with children and adolescents. For this reason it is necessary to reflect on how this tool defines the observed field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]