Revisiting some moments in the psychotherapy of an adolescent girl adopted as a baby, who later sought treatment after a suicide attempt, the analytical process is view as analogous to a process of reciprocal adoption, including the adoptive parents who entrust the child to the therapist. The analytical work fosters in the adolescent the adoption of split-off parts of herself, leading her to re-appropriate her history for herself. Becoming and adult entails the possibility to choose one’s affiliations: she will be able to adopt in her turn.

Adolescence, 2016, 34, 4, 733-742.