[The psychologist and adults: pathology and pseudo-pathology in adolescence]

The difficulty an adult has in identifyng a pathology and distinguishing it from a pseudo-pathology in adolescence, is examined. Adults have the task of determining the uneasiness of the adolescent but very often they are conditioned by their own point of view. Moreover, it can often happen that parents consider a strange behaviour as pathologic symptoms and adolescents who have a good progress at school are not considered as problematic subjects, even if the present a withdrawal attitude both at home and outside. Pseudo-pathology today is presented as a confusion in educational styles, a lack of boundaries and roles, individual struggles for power which can even threaten the role of the therapeutist if the latter is not able to mediate between the past and the present both on a deep emotional level and in the review of theories and diagnostic pictures.