[Troubled adolescents as viewed through emotional experiences in early stages of life]

Troubled adolescent patients visit psychiatric clinics with some presenting problems, but if one listens very carefully to what they are really trying to convey, it becomes clear that there are long histories behind each case. In the very early stages of their lives, complicated situations were present but not recognized as such by their caretakers. Years after, the resulting troubled emotions and feelings all surface in various forms. These are not just a series of simple incidents that happened in the past and have been forgotten, but are ever-present in their minds. Then, what should we do? One could ask the clients and their families to bring all the photographs and/or records over the years from their early childhood, and both the clients and clinicians can look back on, think about, talk about, debate on, and examine these materials together in order to come to an unequivocal understanding about their lives. This could be a time-consuming and hard undertaking, but it is central to the therapeutic strategy when encountering troubled youths in clinical settings.