Building the nest: reworking adolescent development in adult recovery from addiction.

Full Abstract

Using an extended case vignette, the author explores addiction, specifically compulsive gambling and substance abuse, from several psychoanalytic perspectives. Addiction/compulsive behavior is explained as a strategy for managing loss at key developmental stages. The concept of trauma repetition is utilized to understand both the repetitious nature of chronic addiction, and the trauma that underlies it. The process of recovery is chronicled through the therapeutic relationship. A classic children's story is referred to as it threads through the narrative.

Author information

Author/s: Whitman-Raymond, Robert G (RG);

Affiliation: RobWR444(-atsign-)msn.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Case Reports; Journal Article

Journal: American journal of psychoanalysis (Am J Psychoanal), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jun; vol 69 (issue 2) : pp 136-49

Dates: Created 2009/06/18; Completed 2009/08/21;

PMID: 19536179, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 8/21/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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