The Terminal Phase

Abstract

It has been stated generally that termination of psychotherapy gives rise to feelings of loss, grief, and even guilt and anger, and that the way in which the therapist handles these feelings will determine the patient’s ability to function independently after its ending. Such observations may be true in patients who face the termination of their analysis or long-term dynamic psychotherapy as well as in those patients receiving time-limited psychotherapy where the central issues, according to Mann (1973), involve loss and separations.