Xavier Pommereau is a hospital psychiatrist and the director of a centre for adolescents at the University of Bordeaux’s teaching hospital. A recognised specialist in the treatment of troubled adolescents, he has written numerous works on the subject: Quand l’adolescent va mal, L’Adolescent suicidaire and Ados en vrille, mères en vrac.

Today’s teenagers increasingly use digital forms of expression and identify with digital images. The author argues here that the treatment of disorders linked to adolescence should evolve with changing mindsets, lifestyles and technology. But current psychology has failed to take such changes into account and it continues to rely on methods that are now obsolete.
For the therapist, neglecting the language used by patients spells almost-certain failure.
Based on an innovative therapeutic experience that integrates self-representation through images, the author has developed a new understanding of adolescence, which will allow us to provide improved treatment to troubled teenagers.

• A new approach to treating troubled adolescents that makes use of images and digital methods as therapeutic tools.
• Also provided here: specific tips and suggestions to help parents and teenagers use digital tools to pre-empt as well as to respond to adolescent disorders.