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The consultant’s role when the analyst terminates therapy

The consultant’s role when the analyst terminates therapy The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 55, No. 4, 1995 THE CONSULTANT'S ROLE WHEN THE ANALYST TERMINATES THERAPY Sue Nathanson Elkind In keeping with a personal commitment to examine difficult and hidden dilemmas in our profession, I am going to focus on therapeutic relation- ships in which the therapist' terminates the therapy. We know that thera- pist-initiated terminations occur, the result of the therdpist's life changes, psychological state, or assessment of the patient and the therapy. We know that these terminations are problematic, regardless of the reason for them. Patients can plummet into states of catastrophic anger, grief, or disillusion- ment that make a turbulent termination or rupture unavoidable. They can have difficulty preserving the positive aspects of the therapist and be left with a subjective sense of having been harmed or of being beyond help. Therapists suffer too. They agonize over the decision to end a therapy and may struggle with feelings of guilt, helplessness, anxiety, sadness, doubt about the effectiveness of depth psychotherapy, or too little concern. Ther- apists who are ending a therapy because they have been tripped into an area of personal vulnerability may be psychologically unavailable for a constructive termination process. Using my experience http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

The consultant’s role when the analyst terminates therapy

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References (8)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1995 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1007/BF02741982
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 55, No. 4, 1995 THE CONSULTANT'S ROLE WHEN THE ANALYST TERMINATES THERAPY Sue Nathanson Elkind In keeping with a personal commitment to examine difficult and hidden dilemmas in our profession, I am going to focus on therapeutic relation- ships in which the therapist' terminates the therapy. We know that thera- pist-initiated terminations occur, the result of the therdpist's life changes, psychological state, or assessment of the patient and the therapy. We know that these terminations are problematic, regardless of the reason for them. Patients can plummet into states of catastrophic anger, grief, or disillusion- ment that make a turbulent termination or rupture unavoidable. They can have difficulty preserving the positive aspects of the therapist and be left with a subjective sense of having been harmed or of being beyond help. Therapists suffer too. They agonize over the decision to end a therapy and may struggle with feelings of guilt, helplessness, anxiety, sadness, doubt about the effectiveness of depth psychotherapy, or too little concern. Ther- apists who are ending a therapy because they have been tripped into an area of personal vulnerability may be psychologically unavailable for a constructive termination process. Using my experience

Journal

The American Journal of PsychoanalysisSpringer Journals

Published: Dec 1, 1995

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

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