Termination in Psychotherapy & Counseling: Ethical & Clinical Considerations

Understanding the nature of termination in psychotherapy and counseling is extremely important. While every professional relationship between therapist and client must end at one point, just how they end and just how therapists handle these endings have important ethical, legal, and clinical implications. The fact is that about 50% of clients drop out of therapy with or without notice. Many therapists are not sure how to handle such premature terminations as they are concerned with issues of abandonment. They wonder if they have a duty to follow up with a call or letter, offer referrals, or offer a free session. Additionally, different theoretical orientations view termination differently. For example, the psychodynamic therapy approach and focus on termination is generally very different from intermittent-long-term therapy, when we may see clients and their families intermittently throughout the life cycle.

This intermediate course is composed of two in-depth audio interviews with experts (transcripts provided), and it provides guidelines, as well as reviews of the codes of ethics regarding termination. The course dispels many myths and misconceptions about termination. It is geared to help therapists understand how they can avoid abandonment and, at the same time, terminate appropriately when necessary or mandated. Different types of termination will be addressed to include planned, unanticipated, unavoidable, mandatory, and those initiated by clients, by therapists, or by a third party. Additional resources and references are provided for further study, but they are not part of the course.