Mourning Analysis, Mourning the Analyst

The end of an analysis is a crucial moment in psychic realization which is often evaded. Various compensatory attitudes may be adopted to ward off a real confrontation with loss and mourning. In transference as Jung conceived of it, where the analyst’s unconscious is implicated as deeply as that of the analysand, the end of analysis is equally meaningful for both parties. Each must thus do the work of elaboration of the separation, and the analyst must recover from mourning the loss of his or her patient. Otherwise, he or she may try to cling to the patient by unconscious bonds which are liable to hinder their freedom long after the end of the analysis.