Podcast Summary

New Books in Psychoanalysis: Dominique—The Case of an Adolescent

Guest: Jamieson Webster
Host: Jordan
Date: October 13, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of New Books in Psychoanalysis features a deep dive into The Case of an Adolescent by French child psychoanalyst Françoise Dolto, recently retranslated and reissued by Divided Press. Psychoanalyst and author Jamieson Webster—who wrote a blurb for the new edition—joins host Jordan to explore the book’s significance, its structure, Dolto’s radically intuitive clinical style, and controversies it raises, particularly regarding gender, law, and family dynamics.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why This Book Matters

• Jamieson Webster expresses her long-standing admiration for Dolto’s case, arguing it rivals Freud’s iconic case studies in complexity and depth ([04:21]).
  • "It's the first case I've read that, to me, rivals Freud's cases...you could return to it. Look at what she's doing. There’s a million interesting moments..." — Webster ([04:21])
• The book’s form is unconventional—sessions are intertwined with theory, commentary, and indirect reporting, which creates both confusion and appeal for readers ([05:46]).

2. The Structure & Technique of the Case

• Dolto’s narrative immerses the reader in the clinical process: each chapter loosely matches a session but is expanded with theoretical digressions and after-the-fact reflections.
• The book’s development closely follows the moment-to-moment clinical reality, unfolding theory in tandem with the patient's progress ([06:50], [07:39]).

3. Setting & Central Clinical Predicament

• Dominique is a 14-year-old brought by his mother, presenting with severe behavioral and developmental disturbances: erratic behavior, inability to do math (which becomes central), and little previous therapeutic progress ([08:20]).
• The mother is portrayed as overinvolved, with sexual boundaries blurred; the father is largely absent, working in Germany, and emotionally distant ([09:18]).

4. Diagnosis and Psychoanalytic Frame

• Dolto uses the terms “autistic/psychotic” liberally; Webster links this to mid-century French psychoanalytic thinking, seeing "autism" as a provisional term for a child on the brink of psychosis ([09:28]).
• Only 12 sessions comprise the treatment—remarkably brief for psychoanalysis—yet profound transformation is observed as Dominique becomes able to speak, think, and separate from his mother ([10:28], [10:43], [11:05]).
  • "It's kind of a miracle care." — Jordan ([10:36])

5. On the Mother-Son Relationship and Incest Taboo

• Dolto’s technique emphasizes separating Dominique from the mother, seen as critical for any psychological development. She handles the mother’s problems both with direct criticism in the narrative and with careful, empathic language when speaking to Dominique ([11:52], [14:19]).
• Extended quote where Dolto interprets the incest taboo to Dominique—remarkably direct and explicit in laying down “the law of men everywhere”—sparks much discussion ([22:38], [24:11]).

6. Implementation of the Law and the Role of the Father

• Early in treatment, Dolto invokes the (often-absent) father as the external law; later, when Dominique asserts himself, she encourages his wish even if it means going against his father’s prohibition ([17:31], [18:39], [19:10]).
  • "Before he is able to speak for himself, she invokes the outside force. Once he's able...she lets him know he can figure out what he wants to do." — Webster ([18:42])
• This evolution models movement from heteronomy to autonomy: clinical authority cedes to the subject’s emerging desire.

7. Body, Knowledge, and Cognitive Symptomatology

• Dolto’s work foregrounds the body—bodily confusion is connected to Dominique’s mathematical struggles, spatial disorientation, and inability to symbolize ([26:53], [28:59]).
  • Dolto famously guides Dominique’s hand to a window latch, symbolically enacting separation and mastery ([27:03], [28:02]).
• Her theory combines imaginative, developmental, Lacanian, and Kleinian strands—often more heterodox than strict Lacanian analysis ([31:33], [34:00]).

8. Theoretical Eclecticism and Influence

• Dolto draws upon Anna Freud, Spitz, Bowlby, Winnicott, and Klein; her developmental and body-image theories are tailored for real child experience ([31:33], [34:00], [35:01]).
  • "You can’t work with children without having a scaffolding like this." — Webster ([34:00])

9. Cultural Impact and Institutional Legacy

• Dolto’s influence shaped French parenting, the establishment of “Maison Verte”—welcoming drop-in psychoanalytic centers for young children and caregivers, emphasizing speech and separation ([39:32], [40:29]).
  • "Every new child is an explosion..."—Webster on family dynamics ([40:58])
• 180+ Maison Vertes now exist; similar models spread to the UK and (possibly) New York ([40:03], [40:05]).

10. Colonial and Historical Context

• Background of colonialism and intergenerational trauma—the family’s time in the Congo, their racism, father’s history as a POW—haunt Dominique’s psyche ([42:04], [42:15]).
• Dominique embodies family secrets, grief, and historical dislocation ([43:09], [43:57]).

11. Contemporary Relevance: Gender, Law, and the “Trans Child” Debate

• The episode tackles how Dolto’s language about gender, sexuality, and prohibition reads today ([46:05]).
  • The foreword to the new edition frames Dolto as exposing the failure of gender categories rather than policing them—though Webster is skeptical about sanitizing or redeeming Dolto’s explicitly gendered language ([47:51], [49:01]).
  • "Do we think that even to say, say these things like you have a mother and a father...do we think that we're brainwashing the child into heteronormativity at that moment?" — Webster ([48:44])
  • Instead, Dolto’s “law” is presented as a framework for later arriving at one’s own position; contemporary readers can translate the law as needed ([49:28], [50:44], [51:11]).

12. Case as Enduring Text: Openness and Limitation

• Webster advocates reading classic and new cases critically, learning from both brilliance and limitation; Dolto operates through interpretation, not prohibition ([51:43], [52:03], [52:59]).

13. Style and Reception: Debate and Endorsement

• The hosts reflect on the angry contemporary reviews versus past accolades; Bob Coles’s 1973 endorsement as evidence of psychoanalytic promise ([54:23]).
  • "If anyone wants to know what psychoanalysis can make possible, read this case." — Bob Coles ([54:23])

14. Ending: The Question of Results

• Dominique’s newfound ability for abstract thought (math, family history) emerges only after the “law” is laid down; Dolto models not congratulating achievement but cultivating ongoing desire ([55:53], [56:25]).
• A closing announcement is made for an event in New York celebrating the book’s launch ([56:54]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It seems like the closest thing to say is autism…because you don’t believe that you can make a decree about psychosis until later...so autism might be the catch-all diagnosis at that point in time for a child who’s on the brink of psychosis, who feels like something psychotic dominates the picture." — Webster ([09:45])
• "It’s kind of a miracle care." — Jordan ([10:36])
• "It is you who are quite right. And your father would agree with you…in the law of all men, everywhere in the world…even with the black people who live all naked, it is forbidden for a boy to sleep with his mother." — Dolto, as quoted by Webster ([22:38])
• "Before he is able to speak for himself, she invokes the outside force. Once he's able...she lets him know he can figure out what he wants to do." — Webster ([18:42])
• "There's a great deal of care and like a core of their own dignity with one another. And once you're on the other side of the no more incest...the heavy hand comes down on the father." — Webster ([14:19])
• "I think that you can talk to children like this." — Webster ([25:07])
• "You can’t work with children without having a scaffolding like this. Does it have to amount to something normative? I don’t think so." — Webster ([34:00])
• "Do we think that even to say, say these things like you have a mother and a father…do we think that we're brainwashing the child into heteronormativity at that moment?" — Webster ([48:44])
• "It's the awakening of desire that's important. You don't have to recognize what it's…what it can do." — Webster ([56:25])

Key Timestamps

• 01:06 – Show intro, book context
• 02:31 – Why Webster admires Dolto’s book
• 05:46 – Structure of the case and narrative complexity
• 08:20 – Dominique’s background and presenting problems
• 09:45 – Diagnostic ambiguity: “autistic/psychotic”
• 10:36 – “Miracle” of the brief treatment
• 11:52 – Mother’s character & the problem of incest/separation
• 14:19 – Dolto’s handling of the mother’s role
• 17:31 – The shifting authority of the father
• 19:24 – On pleasure, law, and supporting desire
• 22:38 – Dolto’s direct “incest law” interpretation to Dominique
• 27:03 – The bodily/mathematical breakthrough scene
• 31:33 – Dolto as heterodox in theory and practice
• 39:32 – Maison Verte and Dolto’s institutional legacy
• 42:15 – Colonial, historical trauma in the case
• 46:05 – Foreword: politics, trans child debate
• 49:01 – Modernizing/criticizing Dolto’s “law”
• 51:43 – On updating theory and acknowledging limitations
• 54:23 – Bob Coles’s preface; the book’s historic reception
• 55:53 – Dominique’s popes/mathematics achievement
• 56:54 – Announcement of book event

Conclusion

The Case of an Adolescent emerges from this conversation as a challenging, layered, and not unproblematic clinical classic. Webster and Jordan deftly illuminate how Dolto’s idiosyncratic blend of intuition, theory, and empathy pushed the boundaries of child analysis—and still provokes debate about gender, law, and the meaning of psychoanalytic “success.” The episode models the very kind of interpretive openness, critical engagement, and respect for complexity that the book itself demands.

For further discussion:
Jamieson Webster and colleagues will lead a reading group/event on the book in New York on October 17th ([56:54]). The revised translation is now available from Divided Press.