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This work is a textbook on termination issues based on the analyses of eight adults, four men and four women. The patients were chosen when they had reached a point at which it was likely that their treatment would be terminated within approximately two years. The clinical material was therefore followed closely by Firestein, and the clearly presented summaries of the patients' analyses do come alive. There is also a review of the literature on termination and chapters on methodological and substantive conclusions.
The analyses were conducted by candidates under supervision at The New York Psychoanalytic Treatment Center. Firestein reviewed the clinic records and interviewed the analysts, the supervisors, and the patients. The research that resulted in this book is noteworthy and timely and shows that in-depth clinical research can still be done; confidentiality can be respected and the narcissistic investment most analysts have in their work need not be an overwhelming obstacle. It is clear that analysts, in order to advance the science and teaching of psychoanalysis, are willing to share with others their understanding of theory and technique, their ways of working, and the evaluation of their results. The author received excellent cooperation from all the candidates, supervisors, clinic staff, and the patients themselves.
Firestein came to the fairly obvious conclusion that termination is an important phase of the analytic process, that it brings to the fore intense affects, and that it involves a crucial reworking of important conflicts and problems leading to personality reintegration and reorganization. He also notes that this phase does not conclude on the ending date but may persist thereafter for varying periods. Although most analysts would fully agree with this, it may need repeated rediscovery and documentation, because not very long ago in the history of psychoanalytic education many analysts felt that termination took place only when the analysi