Adolescents and popular culture. A psychodynamic overview

Adolescents occupy a difficult and seemingly elusive developmental space, which makes them enigmas to most adults, including psychotherapists. Building upon dynamic theory such as that formulated by Winnicott or Erikson, this paper explores the relationship between adolescents and material elements of popular culture within a psychodynamic and developmental framework. Theoretical perspectives are integrated with case material to illustrate some of the roles of popular music and fashion in the lives of teenagers as a means of expression and in potential therapeutic alliance formation, dynamic understanding and working through developmental conflicts in displacement.