| Abstract: | Reviews the book, Saying goodbye: A casebook of termination in child and adolescent analysis and therapy edited by Anita G. Schmukler (see record 1991-98015-000). Anita Schmukler's new book is comprised of 10 clinical and 6 theoretical papers. Schmukler and her colleagues set themselves the task of exploring and illustrating the theoretical and technical issues involved in ending child analyses. The primary theoretical question under review is, of course, the selection of criteria for terminability. The theoretical articles in this book try to tease out with some specificity the changes in the child and in the sessions themselves that indicate termination is on the horizon. Several articles outline criteria for termination, as indicated both in symptomatic improvement in the outside world and in the evolution of the transference neurosis in the analyst's office. The life and times of children and analysts at work around termination are richly illustrated. All practicing child analysts will recognize the pains and pleasures inherent in their line of work. And all will feel helped by the clarity of conceptualization offered as they think through with their own child patients and their parents the question of when it is time to say goodbye. However, the most important criterion for terminability, the child's expanded capacity to integrate disparate parts of himself or herself and metabolize his or her own experience, is inadequately explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
