Premature interruption of psychotherapy: continuation of contact by telephone and correspondence.
The author collected data on 15 patients for whom therapy was interrupted because of a move to a distant city by the analyst or the patient. He found that 14 of these patients refused to accept transfer to another analyst as urged by their analyst; instead, they continued contact by phone and/or correspondence with the analyst for long periods of time. Continuation of contact was not related to diagnosis but perhaps to a basic inability of these patients to face and work through separation or to some type of special patient-therapist relationship.
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000628:therapy; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003193:Compulsive Personality Disorder / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007046:Hysteria / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000628:therapy; D013689:Telephone; D014167:Transference, Psychology; D014956:Writing