ABSTRACT
The reliability of the therapist is a key ingredient in the talking cure. The repeated experience of having recovered, with the therapist’s help, from dysregulated states enhances the possibility of managing alone at times of intense stress. Regardless of the reasons or circumstances of a forced termination, at some level the patient will struggle with the sense that the therapist has ‘kicked him out’. Clementine described how tricky it can be to confront denial and how the therapist’s new agenda can distort the formerly unstructured process. H. Craige counsels that in normal circumstances, before setting a date to end, the therapist needs to consider how well equipped the patient is to cope with ending. In particular she needs to assess whether his capacity for both self-analysis and holding onto the positive image of the therapist are strong enough to withstand the disruption of ending.
