Seelischer Schmerz bei Kindern und Jugendlichen

In the psychotherapeutic process, the goal is to help the child and the parents recognize their painful experiences and the associated stress, reduce it to a manageable level, and initiate the mourning process even in toddlers, extending through adolescence, in such a way that pathological grief is minimized. The previously unintegrated emotional experiences from the past are brought into consciousness in the present, inscribed within the analytical-psychotherapeutic relationship, re-experienced in some form, and integrated into a timeline and personal narrative. The playful engagement and the therapeutic interventions that involve language facilitate the integration work. Bürgin and Steck discuss the psychoanalytic, general, and neuropsychological aspects of emotional pain in this foundational work, exemplifying their points with clinical examples from therapies and supervisions.