| This dissertation explores the impact of forced termination on doctoral student-clinicians of psychology through the use of a death anxiety lens. Frequently overlooked in clinical theory, forced termination is a common occurrence for student-clinicians in psychodynamic-oriented outpatient clinics and poses emotional problems for both the patient and student-clinician. In this paper, Terror Management Theory and Firestone's Separation Theory, both death anxiety theories, are intertwined in order to make them more easily applicable to forced termination. These death anxiety theories, which are also frequently overlooked in psychodynamic theory, are integrated with the forced termination literature in order to assist the student-clinician in gaining a clearer understanding of the forced termination phenomenon. The author claims that death anxiety is present during the forced termination phase of treatment and that comprehension of the denial-based psychological impact of death anxiety can serve as a guidepost for student-clinicians during premature phases of termination. |
