Diana Pflichthofer examines separations and their significance for psychological development both within and outside of psychotherapy. She illustrates the importance of the concept of separation in psychoanalytically oriented theories and clarifies that separations not only lead to a painful sense of loss but can also express the desire for autonomy, the fear of intimacy, or the need to escape a traumatic situation. It is shown that separations are part of maturation and development processes, which always involve a detachment from earlier developmental phases and the inner objects associated with them. The author addresses both everyday separation conflicts and those that acquire a symptomatic character, as well as those that originate from traumatizations.