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The complexity of Herbert J. Schlesinger's compact book on the termination of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis mirrors the complexity of his subject, the ending phase of treatment. While I am not the fastest reader (let alone reviewer), I puzzled over the length of time it took me to read this book. The answer, I believe, lies in the text: virtually every sentence is meaningful; there is no filler. Not only are the ideas carefully delineated, but Schlesinger also takes the reader on excursions into adjacent territories that form the important tributaries leading to the end of a treatment experience. These excursions are not side trips meant as diversions or a respite from the main subject; they inform and enrich the author's ideas on termination.
For example, in setting the context for this book, Schlesinger includes the word beginnings in its title. Indeed, his chapter entitled “Beginning from the Vantage Point of Ending” is a masterful summary of how one begins a psychoanalytic process. His cumulative clinical wisdom is evident here as well as elsewhere, and the content is distilled in a