Individuation through immigration to Israel: Psychotherapy with immigrant adolescents

This article focuses on psychotherapy with immigrant university students. It illustrates an earlier theoretical model which views immigration in adolescence in the context of the adolescents' search for autonomy and individual identity. A detailed case presentation is followed by a discussion of some of the pathological manifestations triggered by immigration as well as of some deviations from the normal process of immigration that necessitate therapeutic intervention. Finally some of the psychotherapeutic techniques employed with immigrant students are discussed. It is emphasized that in the majority of cases short term intervention is the treatment of choice, the aim of psychotherapy being to assist patients with their present life crisis and encourage them to resume autonomous coping in the real world as quickly as possible.