An adolescent’s demand for support in undertaking medical transitioning goes against traditional psychoanalytic theories. In this article, the author gives an overview of the metaphors that occur most frequently in discussions about gender transitioning. Through the notions of contagion, naturalness of gender, and amputation, he will attempt to reveal the anxieties of analysts, on the one hand, and, on the other, the anxieties of the psychoanalysis as a theoretical field.
The concept of borderline states raises questions about nosology, psychopathology and treatment. This borderline-concept will be approached, on one hand, with regard to the baby/teen problematic, and, on the other hand, from the perspective of institutional structures. The author stresses the importance of a two-way reading of the theory of deferred action, then recalls some principles of the baby/teen problematic. Lastly, the example of Therapeutic, Educative and Pedagogical Institutions (ITEP) is presented as a way of thinking about mediating structures.
Adolescence, 2021, 39, 2, 327-338.
Revue semestrielle de psychanalyse, psychopathologie et sciences humaines, indexée AERES au listing PsycINFO publiée avec le concours du Centre National du Livre et de l’Université de Paris Diderot Paris 7