Adulto

The presence of the adult in the groups of children and adolescents: the specificity and the differences

Abstract

The relationship between adult and children or adolescents in therapeutic groups is the central theme of this paper which highlights the different modes of perception of the adult therapist by children or adolescents in the group. Several considerations about it are inspired by personal experience of participants in relation to children aged between 7 and 10 years and participating adolescents aged between 14 and 16 years. In particular, attention focuses on the role attributed to the adult therapist and the perception of the latter where there is a parental relationship to the central reference and where it has instead been moved to the background in a more complex relational possibilities in which the ‘Other adult is perceived as a witness of his own personal experience.

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