How can an adolescent authorize him or herself to have a sexual relationship? Access to the jouissance of the body follows the path of the letter in order for desire to emerge. The phallic function becomes the vector, via the possibility for a subject to use the Name-of-the-Father in order to “take the leap” of performing the sexual act. How can the success or failure of this process be approached in the treatment of adolescents? The ways of knowing how to deal with castration are specific yet all refer back to the universal of the father as name (Name-of-the-Father).

Adolescence, 2016, 34, 2, 271-278.