ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors suggest that psychoanalytic research aims at the legitimization of their discipline not only for their patients, but for us as analysts, for analytic training, and for the community at large. There is general agreement that the goal of any psychoanalytic treatment is the patient's satisfaction or the perceived effectiveness of that treatment; thus, psychoanalytic research must be concerned with assessing satisfaction and effectiveness. In fact, how therapy alters people's lives must be the baseline for all effectiveness studies. By establishing the effectiveness of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, we can move on to the study of the post-termination phase. The authors present a study of the therapy experience through the reconstruction of therapy after termination. They focus on the impact of treatment in the post-termination phase. The authors offer a critical review on the meaning of therapeutic reconstruction, even among apparent failure cases.
