Emotional self-support

As Aristotle observes, the third kind of speech and the first kind of means are closely related "[T]he ways in which to make [our hearers] trust the goodness of other people are also the ways in which to make them trust our own" (1366 26-28). (See III. 4 for the importance of self-praise in Athenian legal oratory.) He also claims that the first kind of speech relies exclusively on the third kind of means When the interests of the audience are at stake, "there is no need. .. to prove anything except that the facts are what the supporter of a measure maintains they are" (t354b3i—32). Conversely, he suggests that the second kind of speech cannot rely on the first kind of means To conciliate the listener [e.g., by appeals to emotion] is what pays here" (ibid.). (But see III.3 for a passage from the Politics which points in a different direction.)... 

So at the age of seventeen, maybe this X is functionally, in terms of intellectual and emotional maturity, about age fourteen. Assuming he or she can remain sober, there is a lot of self-esteem to be recovered and a lot of independence to be developed. In sum, this means that parents must extend their active parenting by providing their support for awhile longer and continuing to give their guidance, supervision, and structure to help the child catch up to his or her actual age. 

The shell of the turtle represents a defense against emotional lances and blows. The patient identified her true self as vulnerable, like the shell-less turtle, unable to support herself from within. She felt that the acquaintance in the dream represented a judgmental and self-scrutinizing part of herself who demanded performance and efficiency, and she was surprised that her dream ego was so caring and protective toward the turtle. She related this new sensitivity to the care of the analyst who had not judged her harshly for her difficulties, but we can also view it as coming from a deeper, wiser part of herself. 

It sounds like you weren t given the space or support to cope with difficult emotions when you were younger - and the ways you developed fe.g. self-harm] were the best you had at the time. Some coping strategies cause you more harm than good, but are hard to change after years of use. 

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