Stage 8: Separation and Termination

Stage 8, the final stage of treatment, deals with the patient separating from the therapist. Separation is an issue in all relationships. Object relations therapy is based, in part, on Mahler’s separation-individuation process, which moves from dependency to autonomy. This eight stage treatment model addresses the issues of breaking through the rigid barriers surrounding the wounded selves of patients and helping them to restructure stronger, more congruent, and more honest self-concepts.

Therapists should not minimize the anxiety produced by this separation. Often it is the therapist's own fear of separation that results in minimizing this issue. The therapist identifies separation as a therapeutic issue to help patients identify and deal with their separation anxiety. This stage reviews and summarizes the history of the relationship between the patient and therapist. It is also important for the patient to realize that the healthy parts of the therapeutic relationship have been assimilated into his or her identity. This means that although there is physical separation (therapy ends), the relationship continues in the self-structure of the patient.



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