ABSTRACT
Although Sigmund Freud wrote about endings in analysis, he was not primarily concerned with what contemporary analysts have designated as the termination phase of treatment. Freud does point out that there are not always mutual terminations in analyses, but his interest is in understanding the obstacles that are frequently encountered in the analytic situation. Jack Novick relates that mutually agreed-upon terminations are the exception in modern analytic treatment. Novick's review begins with consideration of the question of premature termination. This type of termination is divided into two clearly defined categories: forced terminations and unilateral terminations. Novick conceives of the preconditions for the terminal phase as being related to what he calls an adolescent pattern of premature termination. Charles Brenner's view of the responsibility of the analyst is different from Novick's concept and certainly different from Heinz Kohut's ideas on the terminal phase of treatment.
