Laura stopped therapy when she moved on to a new, apparently constructive relationship with a young man at her place of work. Simultaneously, she seemed to develop a cordial relationship with her mother, whom she was able neither to demonize nor idealize.
An interaction between Laura and me facilitated this outcome, I believe. Laura received an offer to do some part-time research for a much older man. He made promises to her about compensation about which he began to be vague and unreliable. My reaction was protective of Laura, underscoring her right to question what was happening and not permit herself to be exploited. This proved to be an opportunity to revisit symbolically her childhood situation with the family friend--creating a different outcome, including making sure that "mother-me" knew about it and was opposed to it.
Laura reported no incidents of bulimia at this point.
In terms of the use of Laura's material in our Forum, I felt that I succeeded in giving some sense of Laura as a person because some of the written reactions showed strong identifications with her. Some people brought a feminist perspective to the material. Some were more sensitive to Laura's distortions of the role of males in her life. The cultural milieu was also emphasized. I do not believe that my view of the centrality of Laura's relationship with her mother received much interest.
My overview of the interchanges is that we probably each touched different parts of the proverbial elephant. From the standpoint of treatment, it is intriguing to me that each of us might have been useful to Laura, even utilizing quite different approaches to the work. It would be only confusing to try to utilize all the different perspectives at once. I am inclined to believe that offering a reasonable model for integrating one's conflicting feelings, by a person who fosters a sense of safety in the relationship, can result in one's making progress toward a life one prefers.
I happen to find a developmental perspective congenial, staying on the lookout for ways in which old issues may be gumming up current matters. It is refreshing to learn how many other perspectives may be useful, too.