Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

The dying psychotherapist.

A H Kaplan, D Rothman

The American Journal of Psychiatry

|May 1, 1986

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study explores how a psychotherapist used his terminal illness to help patients process grief from past losses. Follow-up interviews assessed the therapy

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Normal formiminoglutamic acid excreton in megaloblastic anaemia in pregnancy studies on histidine metabolism in pregnancy.

Lancet (London, England)·2014

Same author

A comparison study of multiple measures of adherence to HIV protease inhibitors.

Annals of internal medicine·2001

Same author

Mutation takes no vacation: can structured treatment interruptions increase the risk of drug-resistant HIV-1?

Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999)·2001

Same author

The use of explant lens culture to assess cataractogenic potential.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2000

Same author

Functional characterization of the dimer linkage structure RNA of Moloney murine sarcoma virus.

Journal of virology·2000

Same author

Anti-aging medicine. What makes it different from geriatrics?

Geriatrics·2000

Same journal

2026 Annual Meeting: President-Elect Address.

The American journal of psychiatry·2026

Same journal

2026 Annual Meeting: CEO and Medical Director's Address.

The American journal of psychiatry·2026

Same journal

Reports to the Membership.

The American journal of psychiatry·2026

Same journal

Convergent Metabolic Dysregulations But Divergent Contributing Pathways Across Severe Mental Disorders: The Power of Combining Genetics and Metabolomics.

The American journal of psychiatry·2026

Same journal

2026 Annual Meeting: Presidential Address.

The American journal of psychiatry·2026

Same journal

Represcribing Previously Used Antipsychotics: Response to So.

The American journal of psychiatry·2026

See all related articles

Area of Science:

Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis
Psychological Grief Reactions
Therapeutic Communication

Background:

A psychotherapist's terminal illness provided a unique therapeutic opportunity.
Patients' grief reactions to the therapist's illness were examined.
Previous patient losses, deprivations, and abandonments were central to the therapeutic focus.

Purpose of the Study:

To describe the therapeutic use of patient grief reactions to a therapist's terminal illness.
To evaluate the efficacy of this therapeutic approach.
To explore transference and countertransference dynamics in the context of inevitable separation.

Main Methods:

Analysis of a previously unpublished paper by a dying psychotherapist.
Follow-up interviews with five patients.

Related Experiment Videos

Interviews with subsequent psychotherapists.

Main Results:

The study illuminates the therapeutic potential of addressing grief related to a therapist's mortality.
Communication of the terminal illness and its impact on the therapeutic relationship were analyzed.
Transference and countertransference issues complicating separation were identified.

Conclusions:

Therapeutic use of grief reactions to a therapist's terminal illness can aid in processing past traumas.
Understanding patient responses to therapist death is crucial for effective psychoanalytic practice.
The findings offer insights into managing separation and loss within the therapeutic dyad.