title: The process of termination in long-term psychoanalytic group therapy.
abstract: Termination is a complex phase in the total therapeutic process. Criteria for termination of long-term analytic group therapy encompass both intrapsychic and behavioral changes. One of the useful ways of conceptualizing the termination phase is in terms of the issues of separation-individuation. Three different kinds of termination that can occur and the techniques for working with each are described. Multiple transferences are worked with in the long-term analytic group and both real and transferential losses acknowledged. The ability to leave group therapy with a stronger, better defined sense of self is one of the goals of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, New York City, USA.
authors.forename: N D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Fieldsteel
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group