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Abstract
No matter what has come before, if the ending of the analytic relationship is not managed sensitively, much good may be undone. Analytic endings are emotionally challenging for analysts as well as patients. What was missing from the classical approach, at least as interpreted by Freud's American disciples, was appreciation of the personal relationship (CitationFlank, 2006). In a relational view, the ending must be considered uniquely and mutually negotiated as part of a relationship that is both technical and personal. Accordingly, both permanent separation and separation with possible return are seen as just two of many possibilities for ending that the pair may co-create. Other options must also be considered.
Notes
1Elsewhere (CitationFrank, 2006) I have described the features of the personal aspect of the total analytic relationship—a term that is preferable to the “real” relationship. These features include emergent qualities of mutual recognition, authenticity, especially affective authenticity, and intimacy that develop between analyst and analysand.