Abstract

Looking at cases of adolescents and young women, the author describes psychoanalytic treatments for eating disorders. The article describes fundamental elements of the treatment, including: the structure of the interdisciplinary group of care (psychoanalyst, endocrinologist, nutritionist) and the role of parental involvement. Therapy focuses on the reconstruction of Precursors of the Ego (self-containment and reflective skills). A crucial step is the ability for patients to enter into mental conflict in the therapeutic relationship and with the family, since they have a close link with the mother figure. From this point of view, support for the treatment by the patient’s father in his role as the “third” is relevant in terms of prognosis.