King Lear and the challenges of retirement

Abstract

Shakespeare’s great play King Lear traces the downfall of a man who retired without sufficient insight into the impact of his decision. The author uses the play to frame questions about the course of her own retirement from psychoanalytic practice, on May 31, 2019. How might the decision to retire change the analyst’s sense of her own identity, and her patients’ perceptions of who she really is? What are some of the challenges of living in retirement, without the structure and purpose an analytic practice provides?

Key Words:

• retirement
• practice
• King Lear
• analytic identity
• aging

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sandra Buechler

Sandra Buechler, PhD, is a retired psychoanalyst, graduate of the William Alanson White Institute, currently living in New York, USA. She is the author of six books, most recently Psychoanalytic approaches to problems in living: Addressing life’s challenges in clinical practice (Routledge, 2019).