What is psychoanalytic psychotherapy like for adolescents? An 'experts by experience' enquiry using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract Objectives: This project set out to understand the experience of adolescents of their psychoanalytic psychotherapy. I had noticed that the majority of outcomes-based research failed to include the perspective of young people, and, when on the rare occasion that they did, used quantitative research methodology thereby limiting what could be said to a selection of prescribed options. This lack of rich data formed the basis of my motivation for the project of an ’experts by experience’ enquiry. Methods: I interviewed five young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, using a semi-structured interview schedule, allowing each participant the time needed to reflect on their experience of their therapy. This data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Personal Experiential Themes (PETs) were identified for each participant and, after a cross-case analysis, I identified five Group Experiential Themes (GETs), ‘Feeling desperate and in need of help’, ‘Recognising a firm framework’ ‘The importance of the therapeutic relationship’ ‘Managing frustration’ and ‘Benefit and help’ noting the convergence and divergence of the accounts of the young people within each of these. I then selected three of the GETs, Recognising a firm framework, The importance of the therapeutic relationship and Managing frustration, to discuss further, linking them with relevant Psychoanalytic Theory. Conclusions: The findings of this study identified the importance of speaking directly to young people about their experiences of their therapy. They noted the difficulty in having to wait for access to mental health treatment, the importance of feeling heard and contained in a therapeutic framework as well as being able to acknowledge separation from their therapist, a position that facilitated a different kind of thinking. The participants spoke of a wish for the perfect therapist as well as wanting to be the perfect patient and how outcomes and goals became more realistically defined as the work progressed. Young people noted their frustration and feelings of uncertainty during the process, advocating for mental health and speaking out in opposition to stigma.