ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will describe the evolving process of grief sharing and mutual transparency with my patient K. The chapter will elaborate on the loss of both K’s and my own mother, and how, during the COVID-19 pandemic, K. and I gradually expanded the analytic frame to include virtual Shabbat dinners. I will discuss how the “human to human” aspects of our relationship existed alongside more traditional analytic sessions, and my reflections on holding these alternating registers. With her permission, K’s own emails and writings related to the treatment will be included. This chapter suggests that during times of extraordinary challenges, the analyst may be called upon to expand the analytic field to include moments of meetings and human connection outside the analytic frame with vulnerable patients who are trapped in isolation and despair. I also suggest that these meetings bring their own challenges to bear on the treatment process.
