ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I focus on the terminal stage of critically ill patients from the point of view of their medical team. Torture, execution, and abandonment may seem unnecessarily harsh terms, but they correspond to the feelings that can be engendered in the treating staff by this population of very ill patients. These countertransference reactions can lead to suboptimal patient care and a recurrently painful work experience. I address each of these three reactions by using illustrative cases from my work as a psychiatric consultant within a large hospital. In each case, there are accessible therapeutic approaches that allow for a more gratifying experience for both the dying patient and the caretaker.
