[Coping with individuation problems of epileptic adolescents and young adults using a multidisciplinary counseling team].

Adolescence is a phase of development in which independence and a self-controlled life are being struggled for. Both the adolescents and their parents have the chance to reduce dependencies and become more and more autonomous. Epilepsy and its concomitants prevent patients from having the same lifestyle as healthy adolescents without such restrictions. Every seizure means a loss of control and is an impediment in the development towards autonomy and independence. Strategies for coping with these difficulties are dependent upon several factors: the time when the first seizures began, frequency of seizures, possible accompanying brain damage, effects of anti-epileptical drugs on behaviour, family structure and the personality of the adolescent. Highly complicated situations often arise when there is a combination of both uncleared medical questions as well as difficult psychosocial conditions. The development of more autonomy is obstructed by the fear of further seizures and this fear coincides with the process of separation from the parents at this stage of life. Epileptological and psychotherapeutic competence is needed for counseling families in these serious situations. Multidisciplinary cooperation is needed for analysing the problems of adolescents with epilepsy and their families. Only in this way can adequate strategies of intervention be developed. Two typical examples of such separation crises in adolescents with epilepsy and the supportive management of these crises through multi-disciplinary counseling shall be demonstrated.