Good Enough Endings: Breaks, Interruptions, and Terminations from Contemporary Relational Perspectives

by Salberg; Jill

• ISBN13: 9780415994538
• ISBN10: 0415994535
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-03-25
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In the relational literature, the subject of termination - the ending of an analysis - has received scant attention, and traditional Freudian or ego-psychological criteria are not always enough to assess the readiness to terminate therapy in the coconstructed, intersubjective analytic relationship. Good Enough Endings seeks to remedy this gap, bringing together contributions from contemporary relational thinkers, while at the same time engaging with ideas from other psychoanalytic perspectives. Topics given consideration include: Can there be a relational criteria or paradigm for termination, and what would it include? How do treatment goals of the analyst and/or that of the patient affect the decision to terminate? How do recent developments in attachment theory and research influence the preparation to end analysis? What occurs for the patient after termination, and how do we assess the need for follow-up?Integrating elements of existing psychoanalytic theory with the fruits of the relational turn, Good Enough Endings expands and expounds upon the relational considerations in ending analysis, providing a resource for reflection and insight into the final - and perhaps most difficult - aspect of psychoanalytic treatment.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Contributors	p. xi
Introduction	p. xv
Termination: Theories and positions	p. 1
Historical overview	p. 3
Termination: The Achilles heel of psychoanalytic technique	p. 25
There is no end of the line: Terminating the interminable	p. 39
Beyond the bedrock	p. 51
Termination in psychoanalytic psychotherapy: An attachment perspective	p. 63
Transformations of desire and despair: Reflections on the termination process from a relational perspective	p. 83
On the clinical frontier	p. 107
How we end: Taking leave	p. 109
Termination as necessary madness	p. 131
The changing firmament: Familiar and unfamiliar forms of engagement during termination	p. 145
Will you remember me? Termination and continuity	p. 167
Maternal resistance	p. 191
Musings on the multiple meanings of ending	p. 211
Afterwardness and termination	p. 213
Termination in psychoanalysis: It's about time	p. 223
Parting ways	p. 241
Relational analyses: Are they more difficult to terminate?	p. 257
ôIt ain't over till it's overö: Infinite conversations, imperfect endings, and the elusive nature of termination	p. 277
Index	p. 305
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