ABSTRACT
Klein emphasises the need always to be aware of and interpret separation anxiety whenever it appears, in the context of the whole transference situation, past history and present circumstances. The responses to separation anxiety, conscious and unconscious, are observed by all psychotherapists. Anxiety about a separation consciously felt, produces sadness or anger, frustration, a feeling of being abandoned; if this can be expressed because a patient has learned to trust the therapist, the anxiety can gradually begin to be worked through. If, on the other hand, the anxiety seems too much to contain, unconscious mechanisms take over and defences such as repression, denial and splitting the ego are employed. A patient may feel independent and look forward to a break and also the resumption of the work with the therapist on returning and yet at another time, view an impending break with suspicion and anxiety.
