From the viewpoint of society, adolescence can be considered a transition phase into adulthood. For many psychoanalysts, the changes originating from the puberty process are accompanied with an “anguish of growth”. The crisis installed due to this process can be marked by something peculiar in the life of each one.

To discuss the clinical practice, looking towards an understanding of the peculiarities that mark the psychotherapy of an adolescent who lives through a cultural transition.

Case report referring to a clinically listening to a 15 years old adolescent who was born and raised in Japan, then moved to Brazil with her family when was 12 years old.

Adaptation to a different culture was what motivated the patient's mother to seek attention for her daughter. The family brings the image of an idealized Japan. The change did not only bring consequences to the daughter, but to the family that went through reorganization in the face of customs and material conditions. The new conditions ended up accentuating conflictive questions by the married couple and the difficulty of organizing the positions of the parents and children in family dynamics, interfering in the process of separation/ individualization of the adolescent. The patient found within a typical Japanese music group an outlet in which she could confront other discussions that stamp her identity.

Psychocultural transition has marked this phase in the life of this adolescent. Within a referential group of oriental culture, the patient has found support for these changes.