THE (UN)DESIGNATED MOURNER WHEN THE ANALYST'S PATIENT DIES

A mourner faces the difficult tasks of detaching from, yet remaining connected to, the lost object,. He or she is helped, in part, by a variety Of public and private memorializing activities. But what happens when the bereaved is an analyst Mourning the death of a patient? The rituals designed to provide solace are not available; despite having known the patient in a most personal, intimate way, the analyst remains outside the community of mourners. This description of the analyst's experience of the untimely death of a Young patient provides clinical material for how language, symbol and community may help the analyst at a difficult time.