Frans van Paassen
Termination of psychotherapy means saying goodbye to the process and the therapist. This can be difficult for the patient and the therapist as well. The ending can reactivate conflicts associated with separation and loss, especially when these were important themes in the therapy. The ending has the potential of working through these conflicts. The ability to say goodbye will help the patient to face future separations. In this article the process of ending psychotherapy is described from a psychodynamic perspective. Traditionally the emphasis was on feelings of loss and mourning. Recent literature describes the ending as a process of transformation and internalization. Different forms of termination (planned, premature termination or forced) are discussed. Also the role of the therapist in this process is highlighted.
Martin van Kalmthout
Existential psychotherapy is defined here as a therapy that does not exclude problems of living, but accepts these as legitimate questions for therapy. Contrary to usual approaches to existential psychotherapy, the present one is not based on the work of existential philosophers, but on existential approaches within the major schools of psychotherapy itself. It is argued that excluding existential questions from therapy represents a limited and reductionist view of psychotherapy, while including them is essential to its identity. Existential psychotherapy might well contribute in an important way to find again psychotherapy’s original identity in an era in which it is seriously threatened.
