One psychoanalytic justification for the practice of not recommending posttermination patient-analyst contact to former patients is the assumption that such posttermination contact interferes with the patient’s mourning response to the loss of the analyst. We respond to that assumption by describing the empirical studies that have shown that posttermination patient-analyst contacts did not interfere with the patient’s mourning response. A previously published case study of posttermination patient-analyst contact is presented that seemed beneficial to both patient and analyst. However, empirical surveys indicate that very few analysts ask to see the terminating patient after a specific time after termination. The concept of termination has long been widely criticized as being unsatisfactory, but no alternative conception of the end of analytic treatment has been offered. This article proposes a new conception, that successful completion of analytic treatment be termed, “progression,” not termination. A patient who has completed treatment may have become independent, self-aware, and engaged in a more gratifying life, while also valuing subsequent periodic contacts with the former analyst. Such contacts in turn indicate the analyst’s continued interest, caring and concern, and may revitalize the patient’s internalizations developed during treatment, while also providing an opportunity to reduce exaggerated idealizations of the analyst. These contacts provide the analyst with information about the patient’s postanalytic course and development, making possible a revision of the analyst’s evaluation of the effectiveness of prior analytic treatment, and, in addition, enabling the analyst to revise unresolved countertransferences to the patient.

中文翻译：

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“进展”，“终止”的替代概念，表示成功的分析性治疗的结束。

不建议与前患者进行离职后患者-分析师接触的实践的一种精神分析理由是假设这种离职后接触会干扰患者对失去分析师的哀悼反应。我们通过描述实证研究来回应这一假设，这些实证研究表明，终止后的患者-分析师接触不会干扰患者的哀悼反应。之前发表的一份关于离职后患者-分析师接触的案例研究，似乎对患者和分析师都有好处。然而，实证调查表明，很少有分析师要求在终止后的特定时间后看终止患者。终止的概念长期以来被广泛批评为不能令人满意，但没有提供结束分析治疗的替代概念。这篇文章提出了一个新的概念，即成功完成分析性治疗被称为“进展”，而不是终止。完成治疗的患者可能变得独立、有自我意识，并过上了更令人满意的生活，同时也重视与前分析师的后续定期接触。这种接触反过来表明分析师的持续兴趣、关心和关注，并可能使患者在治疗期间发展的内化恢复活力，同时也提供了减少分析师夸大理想化的机会。这些联系人为分析师提供了有关患者分析后病程和发展的信息，