Thank you for inviting me to reply to Dr. Clemmens's comments on my paper, “The Consultant's Role When the Analyst Terminates Therapy,” and Dr. Abarbanel's article, “Consultation When the Patient Terminates an Impaired Treatment” . Responding to his remarks is problematic because he appears to have approached the papers with an open mind, but at some point solidified a view of our work as of “spurious scientific value” and written in a “reprehensible spirit.” But I will respond with the main ideas that emerged from my ponderings.

I would like Dr. Clemmens to know that these papers represent only one category of consultation to therapists and patients in serious impasses and ruptures. For a more complete understanding of the kinds of consultation we provide and of the conceptual basis for providing them, I refer him and interested readers to my book,