Oedipal dynamics between a male-female co-therapist dyad and a group of adolescent boys with learning difficulties : a case study exploration

• Main Author: Ismail, Faldiela
• Other Authors: Kaminer, Debbie
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2015
• Subjects: Clinical Psychology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11381

Includes bibliographical references. === Theoretical literature indicates that a male-female co-therapist dyad in a psychotherapy adolescent group provides for the opportunity of parental transferences, including Oedipal conflicts, to occur. However, limited empirical data is available regarding male-female co-facilitation in therapeutic groups for adolescent boys with learning difficulties, especially concerning the re-activation of the Oedipal complex. This dissertation explored the usefulness of Oedipal theory for understanding the interactions that emerged between a group of adolescent boys with learning difficulties and a male-female co-therapist dyad. The study was located within a theoretical context of understandings of the re-activation of the Oedipal complex during the developmental stage of adolescence, and the manner in which learning difficulties contribute to and maintain difficulties in children's cognitive, social and emotional development. The research takes the form of a psychoanalytic case study. Vignettes drawn from clinical case material of the psychotherapy adolescent group of the Learning Problem Programme (LPP) at the Child Guidance Clinic of the University of Cape Town were analysed using a psychoanalytic framework. The group members consisted of 10 adolescent boys, mainly from disadvantaged communities in the 'Cape Flats' area of Cape Town. Analysis of the case material indicates that the manner in which Oedipal phenomena unfolded was influenced by multiple factors, and highlights the limitations of an interpretive therapeutic model in group work with adolescent boys who have learning difficulties. Recommendations for the LPP psychotherapy group, and for group work with adolescent boys with learning difficulties in other contexts, are offered.