Don't see anything wrong with idealizing someone you are no longer seeing. Idealization is a problem only if we continue to see the one we idealize because that feeds the desire to be in a different type of relationship with them, which could become tormenting. When we don't see them anymore, we accepted that they will be with us only as a positive mental image of someone who provided us with something essential - unconditional acceptance. I think, this could be very healing to keep such idealized characters in our mind. They could be a source of comfort and strengths at difficult times.

I have such characters in my mind. I have seen them also very briefly, I had no time or opportunity to get to know them as real people nor did I want to. I often recalled their support and guidance when I felt vulnerable. What they did for me was crucial. They gave me the initial sense of my own value I didn't know before. That was something I could build upon in the future, which I sure did. If no one ever pointed out to me that I deserve love and respect just by virtue of my existence as a human being, I'd be still having very little sense of self-worth. So, those people appeared in my life very briefly, at the times when I needed them to appear. They served a certain function for me and, as soon as they served it, they disappeared. I never had the need to see them again, but I sure love keeping them in my mind as my idealized heroes. That doesn't mean I don't understand that they might be totally ****ed up in reality. I just don't care about it since I never had the need to continue relationships with them.

We don't have NHS in the US.

But short-term psychodynamic therapy is also goal oriented. "Psychodynamic" and "goal-oriented" are not necessarily mutually exclusive. I can't see how any short-term therapy, whatever modality is, can be other then goal-oriented. When both therapist and client know in advance that they have limited time, that immediately makes therapy focused on specific goals no matter what methods are used. I've been in psychodymanic short-term therapy so I speak from experience.

And, again, this won't be a problem, if she ends therapy when some specific objectives are met and doesn't stay in therapy to "work though" transference. When you don't see the object of your love and you accept this, love dissipates overtime leaving a trace in the form of the idealized positive image of someone who helped you in some fundamental, essential way, which I find healing.