The time limit in brief psychotherapy

The time limit in psychoanalytically oriented brief psychotherapy has been construed as a motivation for the patient and the therapist to work more efficiently in therapy and as a stimulation of the patient's unconscious conflicts relating to separation and loss. The authors show that the time limit, in addition to the above functions, affects all focal conflicts in brief psychotherapy, whether or not they relate to separation issues. The time limit helps both patient and therapist to examine aspects of the patient's focal conflicts that tend to perpetuate symptoms or maladaptive patterns of behavior--that is, the primary gain of the symptom--and may therefore play a crucial role in the efficacy of brief psychotherapy. The authors also discuss implications for technique.